Gone With The Wind
by FinnickOdair-Will-Live-Forever
Summary: Everybody thinks Cato and Clove have the perfect love story. They broke up, but Cato stopped at nothing to get Clove back. In the eyes of their friends, everything is perfect. But now trouble is arising and a single decision could result in tragedy. They struggle, but know that everything will be alright if they have each other. But in the end, what if they don't even have that? AU
1. Earth To Cato, Do You Read Me?

**Hello! Welcome to Gone With The Wind! I had the plot all worked out for this, so I figure I would post it now. :) It's the sequel to A Sword Is Like A Knife, so read the first or this won't make any sense. At all. This is going to be a lot less high school drama, and more crime and violence as Cato and Clove start to take a darker route in life… But it will start off light and humorous. :) I don't own The Hunger Games. :(**

**IMPORTANT: This is set towards the end of summer break, although the times and months from ASILAK probably don't add up. Just go with it, okay? :)**

**Eight Months Later:**

"Ready?" I asked.

"Oh yeah." Clove responded

"Set…"

"I'm set!" Annie yelled

"GO!" I shouted, pressing the 'go' button on my phone stopwatch. Annie and Clove raced through airport, both pushing carts loaded with luggage. I laughed and watched Annie scream as Marvel's bag fell off her cart. Katniss, me, Marvel, Peeta and Finnick were waiting in line for the bag check-in. We were an hour so the desk hadn't opened yet. Clove was bored, so Finnick and I had set up a course for her and Annie to race. I told them that we'd add on the amount of bags they'd dropped onto their time. There was seven of us and each cart held seven bags because we had carry-ons as well the bags we were about to check in. It was five o'clock on a Saturday morning, so the place was almost empty. We had been planning this trip to Spain for about five months now. We were staying in a hotel in the Costa Del Sol for two weeks that was four stars and near the beach.

"She's going to make me pick that up." Marvel grumbled, pointing at his bag on the floor.

"Probably." Finnick chuckled. I pressed the 'lap' button when Clove crossed the finish line. I pressed the 'stop' button when Annie crossed it too, a few seconds behind Clove. I quickly counted the bags up.

"Annie, you dropped two. That makes your time 3:43. Clove dropped three. That makes her time 3:39. Winner!" I declared, grabbing her wrist and lifting it in the air. They were both breathing pretty heavily. I suppose I would be to if I had spent almost four minutes sprinting around an airport, pushing seven heavy bags in front of me.

"You seriously thought you beat me, Cresta?" Clove raised an eyebrow and grinned. I dropped her wrist and wondered off to pick up the five bags.

"You cheated!" I heard Annie yell as I picked up my carry-on that Clove had dropped going around a bench. I picked up all of the bags and walked back over to the others. The seven of us were me, Clove, Annie, Finnick, Katniss, Peeta and Marvel.

"I didn't cheat." Clove muttered as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, after placing the bags back on the carts. She wrapped her own arm around my waist and pressed her face into my shoulder.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I'm bored again." She mumbled into my shirt. I rolled my eyes. Clove hadn't done any training since school ended and she was going slightly crazy. I was hoping that this vacation would distract that she was bored half the time.

"Only a few minutes until the desk opens." Peeta said, checking his watch. Clove groaned and I kissed the top of her head, knowing that a few minutes would feel like hours for her. It was probably the same for everyone; we were all pretty excited for this vacation. In total, Clove and I had been together for a year. The time had flown by, it felt like just yesterday we were in the TTE together. The gang had left me alone, but I was kind of suspicious. I had the scar going down half my back to prove how brutal they could be. I found it hard to believe that they'd just let me go like that.

"Earth to Cato. Do you read me?" Katniss clicked her fingers in front of my face.

"What?"

"The desk's open." She rolled her eyes. I released Clove pushed one of the carts up to the desk. We checked in all of our bags, except our carry-ons, and then abandoned the carts. Annie started freaking out when we reached security.

"Something'll go wrong. Something always goes wrong!" She pointed out. After Finnick had calmed her down, we took turns walking through the metal detectors. We all got through fine, until it come to Marvel. The alarms abounded and he was pulled to the side to get patted down. When they couldn't find anything, they made him walk through again. The alarms sounded and he was taken away for a more 'thorough' check. I glanced at Clove who was stood next to me, snickering.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"I put a small hair grip in his pants pocket when he was asleep on the way here." She grinned. I couldn't help but laugh. When Marvel finally came out of the small room, he looked extremely pissed off. He handed Clove the hair grip.

"Yours, I think. I can't believe they only found it after they had done a strip search." He frowned. The group all burst out laughing, which caused Marvel to blush.

"Come on. Our flight's in forty five minutes." Peeta laughed. I whooped and he led the way to the gate.

-Line Break-

"So, how come you didn't invite Cashmere?" I asked Marvel as the plane took off. He was sat to my right and Finnick was on Marvel's right. Katniss, Annie and Clove were sat in front of us and Peeta was sat in the aisle across from us.

"Come on, man. You know I don't do serious relationships. Cashmere's just been a friend for, like, four months now." He grinned.

"_Really _good friends." I smirked. Finnick laughed and punched Marvel in the shoulder. It was like that every time Marvel broke up with someone. He told them that he just wanted to be friends with benefits, so he was probably still seeing Cashmere, but on more relaxed terms. He was probably seeing all his girlfriends, but knowing Marvel there wouldn't be many. Nobody taught him how to do commitment.

"Whatever. I'm hoping to meet a nice Spanish girl and get with her, anyway." He grinned again before popping his earphones into his ears. Katniss turned around and faced us through the gap in the seats.

"Did he seriously just say that? I thought he was seeing Fox." She frowned.

"Where did you get that idea?" Finnick asked.

"They've been on, like, six dates. I thought they were official now." She frowned again.

"Marvel doesn't do 'official' unless he knows he won't get bored." I chuckled.

"That's horrible! Fox isn't boring!" Katniss protested. Clove reached over the back of the seat and thwacked me on the head.

"Don't be mean." I heard her say, but she didn't turn around.

"Yeah, Cato. Don't be mean." Peeta grinned from across the aisle.

This was going to be the flight from hell.

**So, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Tell me what you think. :)**


	2. Don't Call Me Clovey

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( Thanks for all the positive reviews. :)**

**Clove's POV:**

Once we had gotten through customs and all the passport checks in Spain, we reached the part I'd been dreading. Baggage claim. Four teenage boys plus a shit load of revolving escalators equals chaos. Katniss must have had the same kind of thoughts because when we had pulled two carts up to the escalators she said,

"If any of you pull any kind of stunt you'll have me to deal with."

"Yes, mam." Marvel said, saluting her. I rolled my eyes at him and stepped closer to wait for my bag to come around.

"I'll get it, Clove. You're too small." Finnick smirked. I glared at him as he leaned over me to get my suitcase for me. Katniss and Annie already had there's, and Peeta was further off down the escalator to collect his. Cato winked at me before shoving Finnick. He toppled over and landed on the baggage escalator.

"Cato, you douchebag!" He yelled as he was carried around. I pointed at a panel that had two buttons on it. One of them stopped the escalator, and the other sped it up. Cato grinned evilly before pressing the speed button. Finnick yelped as it sped up. He was rapidly approaching the flaps.

"Finnick!" Annie yelled. My bag came whizzing past, followed by Cato's. He grabbed both of them.

"Come on, we need to leave the crime scene." He smirked. We ran over to join Marvel, Katniss and Peeta. Katniss looked pissed off, but Peeta and Marvel were laughing. Annie was running after the escalator, trying to grab Finnick's arm before he disappeared behind the flaps.

"Cato Ludwig, I am going to kill you." Katniss scowled.

"Nothing to do with me. Finnick slipped, right Clove?" He asked innocently.

"Right, Cato." I nodded. Katniss glared at us both again before turning her gaze back to Annie. She had managed to pull Finnick off of the escalator and they were lying on the floor together, breathing heavily. After a few minutes, Finnick stood up and pulled Annie up with him. We noticed the security guards talking into walkie-talkies and looking at us.

"Hurry!" Marvel yelled. We picked up our suitcases and carry-ons and, abandoning the carts, ran off.

-Line Break-

"So, who's driving first?" Peeta asked as we crowded around a light blue people carrier car. There were two seats in the front, three in the middle and two in the back.

"You can." I said. He rolled his eyes and pulled himself into the driver's seat. Katniss sat next to him. Annie, Marvel and I took the seats in the middle, leaving the back to Cato and Finnick.

"Don't get to frisky back there, you two." Marvel smirked. Finnick rolled his eyes while Cato glared at Marvel.

"Oh, please. He's no Annie." Finnick reached over the top of Annie's chair and ruffled her hair. She giggled and swatted his hand away.

"But I thought you loved me, Finnick!" Cato shouted dramatically, resting his hand over his heart. I laughed at him and he did the same to me as Finnick had to Annie. Instead of just swatting his hand away I unclipped my seatbelt, turned around and punched him.

"Clove, seatbelt!" Peeta demanded as he pulled out of the parking lot. I ignored the fact that Cato was rubbing his face and mock-pouting as I did my seatbelt up again.

"The hotel's only about twenty minutes away." Katniss said, looking down at a map.

"Is it near the beach?" Annie asked eagerly. Her and Finnick loved swimming. They both transferred from School Four elementary when they were eight. School Four was right next to the ocean. A jolt of anger shot through me as I thought about School Four and two of its pupils. Katrina and Trey. I shook off the anger and listened to Katniss.

"Yeah. There's a pool as well, a restaurant, tennis courts and a gym." Cato hadn't really been listening but when Katniss said 'gym' his head shot up.

"There's a gym?" He asked.

"Not the kind of gym where you can shoot arrows, throw knives and stab dummies. The kind where you run, or cycle, or lift weights." Katniss rolled her eyes.

"It's better than nothing." Marvel said. I agreed with him. I hadn't done any kind of training in, like, a month and I was going slightly crazy. I'd have to go to the gym at some point, or I'd lose all of my sanity.

When we pulled into the hotel's parking lot, I dived out of the car before Peeta had even turned the engine off. I ran to the hood and threw it open. The others climbed out and I took my bags out and ran off, pulling the suitcase behind me.

"Clove! Wait there!" Katniss yelled. I rolled my eyes but stopped running, mainly because she had all the check-in details. We checked in and then made our way up to the tenth floor. There were twenty in total. I wanted to be high up but Marvel didn't want to be too high, so we had settled for the tenth floor. Annie, Katniss and I were sharing a three person room. Marvel, Finnick, Cato and Peeta were sharing another, but I think Peeta was going to sleep on the couch. We walked into our room and were met by two twin single beds. There was a balcony next to them and a door on each side of the room. One led to a bathroom and another led to a bedroom with a double bed.

"Dibs on the double bed!" I called. I charged into the room, dropped my bags on floor and flopped down onto the bed. There was a closet, a vanity mirror and dressing table and two bedside tables. There was a huge window with a view of the beach and a door leading to another bathroom.

"Hey Clovey, put your swimsuit on. We're going down to the pool." Annie said, sticking her head around the door.

"Don't call me Clovey." I groaned, pulling myself off of the bed.

"Only Cato gets to call her Clovey!" Katniss called from the other room. I couldn't see her, but I knew she was smirking.

"Shut up." I mumbled.

"It's true, Clove. I'm sure you love the nickname really." Annie grinned.

"Shut _up_."

"It's because you luuurve him." Annie waggled her eyebrows and laughed. She was so busy laughing that she didn't notice the incoming pillow until it had hit her in the face.

**I've decided that I need a new summary, so I'll be working on that as well. :) I have a new idea for a oneshot, so I'll write that when I get time. :)**


	3. I'll Castrate You

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :(**

**Clove's POV:**

The pool was huge. There were loads of sunbeds scattered around, a small pool, a larger pool, a Jacuzzi and a third pool that had a water slide. The three of us threw our towels over some sunbeds and settled down. It was just past lunch time but I was too lazy swim, so I pulled my Ipod out of my beach bag and popped my earphones in. I leaned back and closed my eyes.

The warmth of the sun must have sent me to sleep eventually, because I was woken by water dripping on my stomach.

"Yes?" I asked, opening an eye and pulling out my earphones.

"Pool closes soon." Cato said. He had obviously been swimming, because he was soaking wet. His hair was dripping water all over me.

"Really? What time is it?" I asked.

"Six. It closes at seven. There's nobody else here." He responded, pulling me up.

"There's still an hour. Where are the others?"

"Finnick got kicked out, so they all went back to your room about two hours ago. One of the lifeguards kept flirting with Annie, so he pushed him in the Jacuzzi." Cato smirked.

"Why didn't you wake me up? I would have paid to see that." I frowned. Finnick pushing a fully-clothed lifeguard into a Jacuzzi? Who wouldn't want to see that?

"Didn't want to bother you. You know, it's still really hot." He said, smirking again. I eyed him warily. Before I could say anything, he chucked me over his shoulder and started running towards the larger pool.

"Cato, put me down!" I screamed, slapping his back. He dived into the pool with me still on his shoulder. The water wasn't freezing but it wasn't exactly warm. When we resurfaced, he was laughing.

"You bastard." I muttered.

"You love me really, Clovey." He grinned, swimming closer to me.

"Yeah. That's the problem." I frowned.

"That's okay. I love you too." He smiled. He pushed a strand of wet hair that had come loose from my pony tail behind my ear before wrapping his arms around my waist. I rested my hands on his cheeks. He picked me up slightly and kissed me softly. I kissed him back and I had just wrapped my legs around his waist when a lifeguard blew a whistle at us and shouted.

"_No PDA en la piscina!_"

"What did he say?" Cato whispered in my ear when I pulled away.

"He said no PDA's in the pool." I smirked and unwrapped my legs from his waist.

"Oh. We should get going; Katniss wants us to meet back at your room to talk about what we're doing for dinner." He said.

"Katniss the control freak." I rolled my eyes. Katniss was one of my best friends, but she had been acting like our mother ever since we reached the airport in West Virginia. Cato laughed slightly before throwing me over his shoulder again.

"I can walk you know." I said when we were out of the pool.

"I know. But this way none of those stupid Spanish guys will flirt with you." He responded.

"Somebody's getting a bit protective." I smirked. He threw my bag and towel over his other shoulder.

"I have reason to be. You're the prettiest girl in the hotel; they'd be crazy if they didn't want you." He said. At the moment, I was glad he had over his shoulder because he couldn't see me blushing.

"That's not true."

"I promised not to lie to you, Clovey." By then we had reached the hotel elevator.

"Can you put me down now?" I changed the subject. He pressed the 'ten' button and placed me back on the floor.

"You're welcome." He smirked. I rolled my eyes and swatted at his bare chest. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the elevator.

"One second." I said before he opened the door to his room. I pulled my cover up out of my bag and put it on. I nodded to him and he opened the door. Their room was identical to ours. Marvel, Annie and Peeta were sat on the couch watching Katniss and Finnick, who were in the middle of an argument.

"You didn't have to shove him!" Katniss yelled.

"He was flirting with my girlfriend!" Finnick protested.

"That lifeguard was fully-clothed and carrying two _expensive _walkie-talkies! You are so getting billed for this."

"Uh, hey guys." I said awkwardly from the door. Cato stepped into the room, pulling me in with him.

"What were you two doing? You've been down at the pool for ages!" Katniss spun around to direct her anger at us.

"I think we all know what they were doing." Marvel smirked. I rolled my eyes at him.

"We were swimming." I said, pointing at my wet hair.

"Swimming in the sea of luuurve!" Annie giggled. I blushed slightly, causing her giggle to turn into a full out laugh.

"Whatever. Just go get changed, Clove. We're going to eat in, like, half an hour." Katniss said, handing me a key and shooing me out of the room. When I got back to my room I showered and changed into white skinny jeans and a dark purple tank top, seeing as the nights here were warm. I put on the necklace Cato had given me for my birthday three months ago. Normally I would never have taken it off, but I was worried about taking in through security with me in the airport. It was pretty simple, a silver chain with small diamond heart but I loved it. I put on a small amount of mascara, about the only makeup I could manage. When I walked out of the room, everyone was waiting in the corridor.

"Ready?" Cato asked.

"Yeah, just a second." I darted back inside the room and grabbed my purse. I came back out and locked the door.

"_Now _I'm ready." I said. Cato had also changed out of his swimming shorts. He was wearing blue jeans and black button up shirt. The other boys were wearing similar outfits. Annie was wearing a light blue sundress with white tridents patterned onto it and Katniss was wearing black high waisted shorts and a white tank top. Cato took my hand and we led the way down to the outside restaurant. It was about ten minutes away, on the beach. There were tables inside, but we sat at one that was outside on the sand, under the canopy. We all ordered our drinks and the waiter handed us menus. When we were brought our drinks, I was given a bottle of champagne.

"We didn't order this." I frowned.

"It's for you, from the gentleman over there." The waiter pointed at a table near the door to the restaurant. When we had ordered our food, I glanced over at the table.

"Shit." I muttered.

"What?" Katniss whispered. She was sat on my left and was the only one who heard me, because Cato was talking to Peeta about the basketball team.

"Look over there at the guy who sent me the champagne." I whispered back.

"Oh my God, it's Don!" She gasped.

"I'll be right back." I declared. I shot out of my chair and darted over to Don's table. He was sat with two of his friends from Ohio.

"Hey, Clove. Take a seat." He smiled warmly at me.

"I'm good, thanks. What are you doing here?" I asked through narrowed.

"Umm…Vacation?" He lied.

"You're easier to read than a book, Don. What are you _really _doing here? I know you hate the heat."

"Can we do this somewhere else?" He asked. I rolled my eyes and nodded. He stood up and grabbed my wrist. He pulled me past my table, ignoring the glare he got from Katniss. I was guessing Cato was so engrossed in his conversation about basketball that he hadn't even noticed I was gone. We sat down at a table that was away from all the others.

"So, what do you want?" I asked, eager to get back to my own table. Okay, I admit it. I was eager to get back to Cato.

"I'm just going to say it. Clove…I can get you off of my mind. You're basically all I think about, so when Marla told me that you were coming here, I couldn't miss the opportunity to see you again. I've _really _missed you." He said, biting his lip. I closed my eyes for a second. When I reopened them, I stood up.

"I don't have to deal with this." I said, walking back to my table.

"Clove, please. Just give me another chance!" He said, chasing after me.

"Who's this?" Cato asked after I had sat down.

"Cato, this is Don. Don this is Cato. My boyfriend." I said coldly. Our food had arrived, so I popped a French-fry into my mouth.

"I still love you, Clove." He said, completely ignoring Cato. Annie gasped, her eyes widening. Cato stood up slowly. I watched as he picked up his Coke, walked over to Don and poured it over his head.

"Say that again and I'll castrate you." Cato threatened. I knew that he wasn't joking. Marvel decided that he was bored of just sitting there and threw a chunk of meat at Don. It sailed over his head and hit the man behind him. Before long, the restaurant had engaged in a full-on food fight.

Needless to say, we were banned from ever going back there.

**Updates might not be coming every day, because I'm two chapters into another fic called White Rose. It's about Katniss and Peeta's daughter.**


	4. I'll Still Shoot You

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( I wrote like a quarter of this and managed to delete it, because I'm clever like that. :L**

**Cato's POV:**

"Dude, why did you get so defensive at the restaurant?" Marvel asked after I had thrown myself down onto one of the twin beds, wearing my pyjama pants. As soon as we had gotten back to the hotel room I'd got straight in the shower, seeing as I was covered head to toe in ketchup, spaghetti and soup. The others had gotten a few splatters on their clothes, but I had gotten the worst by far. Don and I weren't having a food fight, we were having a food _war_.

"Wouldn't you get mad if Brutus told Cashmere he was still in love with her?" I asked, one eyebrow raised. Brutus and Cashmere had dated for about a year before she broke up with him for Marvel.

"No, because I know she can't resist me." He grinned cockily.

"Whatever, man. Maybe I'll talk to Finnick about, he's not heartless." I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not heartless!" He protested.

"The way you treat girls like they're toys is pretty heartless!"

"I'm just afraid of commitment!" He laughed.

"You wouldn't understand, anyway."

"Try me." He said.

"Goodnight, Marvel." I sighed, rolling over so I wasn't facing him. I flicked the light off and closed my eyes to get some sleep.

When my phone alarm went off, I shut it off as quickly as possible. I checked the clock. It was two in the morning, perfect. I sat up and I slipped my trainers on. Slowly, I made my way over to the balcony. I opened the door as quietly as I could and shut it behind me. It was warm, but there was a cool breeze. I looked over to the balcony next to mine. It was the one attached to the room Annie, Katniss and Clove were staying in. I jumped up onto the railings. Closing my eyes, I jumped across. I landed with a thump and cursed quietly, hoping I hadn't woken the girls up. I pulled myself and stumbled over to the slightly ajar door. I pushed it open quietly and crept into the room. Their room was exactly the same as mine. Katniss and Annie were asleep on the twin beds. I snuck towards the door that led to the double room. If they were to wake up right now, Katniss would shoot first and ask questions later. I pushed the door open slowly, checking that Clove was in there. When I saw here sleeping figure, I walked into the room. I closed the door behind me and turned around, stubbing my toe on the damn door in the process.

"Shit." I whispered. Before I knew what was happening, a knife was flying towards my head. I hit the ground and rolled towards the bed.

"Jesus, Cato! You scared the crap out of there!" Clove whispered.

"Really?" I whispered back. "Because you're the one that threw a knife at my _head_!"

"I'm a light sleeper." She smirked.

"No, you're just crazy." I muttered, standing up and throwing myself onto one side of the bed. She glared at me.

"I heard that. How did you get in our room, anyway?"

"I balcony jumped." I sat up straight so I could see her face.

"What? Do you know how dangerous that is?" Clove's voice raised slightly.

"Awww. Clovey got worried." I grinned, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her in for a hug. She wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her chin on my shoulder.

"What if you fell? Who would I make out with then?" Her mouth was next to my ear and I could feel her smirking.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe you'd just become a cat lady and never love anyone ever again." I grinned.

"Or I could find Don…" She teased. I pulled out of her arms.

"Don't even make jokes about that. That guy pisses me off so badly." I frowned.

"Aw, is Cato jealous of Don?" She laughed, resting her hand on my cheek.

"Of that bastard? No way."

"He's my ex for a reason, Cato. Because I don't want to be with him. This isn't the first time since I moved here that he's confessed his loved and shit like that." She rolled her eyes. I tensed up. Clove must have noticed because she started to stroke my cheek softly.

"When?"

"I went over to Marla's after Glimmer's little announcement last year. He offered to get a job, save up and then move down to West Virginia so we could be together again."

"What did you say?" I asked quietly, well aware that she had been pissed off that day and could have said anything.

"That I was in love with someone else." She responded.

"Was?" I laughed nervously.

"Yeah. You see, he started a food fight and got me and my friends kicked out of a restaurant." She frowned. I sighed and rested my forehead against hers.

"I'm sorry. I just…Couldn't handle it. You're mine, not his. He had no right to come along, completely ignore the fact that I was sat right next to you and tell you he loves you. Though I can see why he does." I smiled weakly.

"It's okay, Cato. You just have to trust me when I say I don't want to be with him. I want to be with _you_." She smiled. I kissed her slowly, but pulled away a few seconds later.

"I'm tired, Clovey." I grinned.

"Me too. Goodnight, Cato." She lay down and turned away from me. I pulled on her arm, rolling her over so that she was facing me. I wrapped my arms around her stomach and she wrapped her own around my waist.

"Goodnight, Clove." I whispered into her hair.

**Clove's POV:**

"Well, isn't that cute?"

My eyes shot open at the sound of Katniss' voice. Light was streaming in through the semi-closed blinds. I glanced at the clock on the wall. Eight thirty.

"What?" I asked, but she just smirked at me. Then I realised I was still wrapped up in Cato's arms. He was still asleep and not wearing a shirt.

"Been busy, Clove?" She smirked again.

"We were _asleep_!" I threw a pillow at her before returning my arm to Cato's waist.

"Whatever you say, _Clovey_. Me, Annie and Finn are going to the beach. Come catch up with us when you've managed to untangle yourself." Katniss stepped out of the room. I sighed as she shut the door and rested my cheek on Cato's shoulder.

"Is she gone?" He whispered.

"Yeah." I laughed. He rolled over, taking me with him. Rolling my eyes, I climbed off of him. He mock-pouted.

"Meanie."

"Go back to your room and get ready to go to the beach." I laughed again.

"Fine." He pecked me on the lips before leaving the room, closing the door quietly behind him. I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face as I stepped over to my suitcase; Cato just had that effect on me.

-Line Break-

"Come on!" Cato yelled, grabbing my hand and pulling me off of my towel. We raced across the hot sand towards the sea. When we were a few feet away, he picked me up and started running even faster.

"You've got to stop picking me up!" I yelled back. He charged into the sea and threw me into the water next to Katniss, Annie and Finnick. I landed with a splash on my back and sunk towards the sand. When I resurfaced, I glared daggers at Cato. If looks could kill, I wouldn't be at his funeral.

"You look a bit damp there, Clove." He smirked. I glared at him some more and pulled my wet hair into a bun.

"I wonder why." I said through gritted teeth. The others were smarter enough to stifle their laughter.

"Don't be mad." He bit his lip, knowing I couldn't stay mad at him when he did that. He pulled me into and sent a trail of kisses down my neck.

"Guys! Get a room!" Finnick yelled, floating on his back a few feet away. I laughed and pulled away from Cato, but he kept one arm wrapped around my waist.

"We had one, but _somebody _barged in!" I said, looking at Katniss.

"How did he even get in there anyway?" She asked.

"I took your room key out of your bra last night when nobody was watching." Cato joked. Katniss' jaw dropped.

"He's kidding." I said once I had recovered from my laughing fit.

"I'm still going to shoot you one day, Ludwig." Katniss glared at him. I heard him gulp, which set me off on another attack of laughter.

**Sorry this took so long and had a crappy ending. :L**


	5. He's Such A Cheese Ball

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :(**

**Clove's POV:**

"No. Leave."

"Please, Clove?"

"No!"

"Why?"

"You know why!" I snapped. I was laying on a sunbed by the pool talking to one of Don's friends, James, with my sunglasses perched on top off my head.

"I really don't." James replied.

"I'm not getting back together with Don because I'm in love with Cato!" I scowled at James.

"But he really wants to be with you!"

"I don't care. I'm happy with Cato."

"You'd be happier with Don."

"Stop lying and fuck off." I glared at him.

"He giving you trouble, Clove?" Peeta asked, walking towards us. I ran my hand through my pony tail and nodded.

"Yeah. Get rid of him?"

"I got this." Peeta grabbed James by the ear and dragged him away from my sunbed.

"Thanks, Peeta!" I called to him.

"Clovey Clove Clover Clove!" Cato yelled, sprinting towards me. He skidded to a halt about a foot away from me.

"Yes, Cato?"

"Don't call me Cato."

"It's your name…"

"Call me Mr Sexy."

"What do you want?" I asked, rolling my eyes. He took my sunglasses off of my head and threw them into my open bag. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up. He charged towards the pool.

"We're going to beat Annie and Finnick at a swimming race!" He yelled before diving into the pool, pulling me in after him.

"Nobody's ever beat Annie and Finnick at swimming." I pointed out when we had both resurfaced.

"Well, we'll be the first." Cato grinned. He grabbed my hand and pulled me through the water towards Annie and Finnick.

"Okay, it's from here to the end of the pool and back. Clove and Annie will race first. When you get back, tab your partner. Ready…" Katniss said.

"You can do this, Clovey."

"Set…Go!" Annie and I kicked off from the wall and swam furiously to the other side of the pool. We both flipped under water and kicked off from the opposite wall. When I reached Cato, I slapped him upside the head. That was his cue to go. He and Finnick took of swimming neck and neck. On their swim back towards us, a baby drifted into Cato's path on a rubber ring. He came splashing to a stop, and Finnick reached the wall first.

"Yes!" He pumped his fist and pecked Annie on the lips.

"Not fair!" Cato complained after he had swum back over, pouting. I met him halfway back to the wall.

"Come here, loser." I grinned. He picked me up, bridal style.

"I'm not a loser." He mumbled, pressing his face into the crook of my neck. I could feel him smiling slightly against my skin.

"Yes you are. But you're _my _loser." I smirked.

"We're going to get them back in two stages." He whispered in my ear.

"We are?"

"Well the second stage is yet to be planned but trust me, it'll be good. For the first stage, I'm just going to throw you at them." As soon as the words had left his mouth, I was flying through the air. I landed on top of Finnick and Annie, who were making out. They both sunk to the bottom of the pool. I rapidly swam away when they resurfaced, knowing that they'd be mad.

"That was a classic." Cato grinned, pulling me into a hug. "Why do they get to make out in the pool but we got whistled at by the damn lifeguards?"

"Because the lifeguards think Finnick will spear them if they say anything." I laughed.

"Oh, and I wouldn't?"

"You probably could have." I responded thoughtfully.

"There's no 'probably' about it. I definitely could have, but I was being nice." He smirked.

"No, you're just lazy." I said. He poked me in the stomach, causing me to laugh again.

"So lazy I'm the captain of the basketball team." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Whatever. Hey, I have a great idea for revenge on Annie and Finnick." I grinned evilly. He leaned his head closer towards me and I whispered in his ear what Annie had told me earlier.

-Line Break-

"This going to be, like, the prank of all pranks." Cato smirked as we ran silently towards the pool. It was eleven o'clock. Katniss, Peeta and Marvel were asleep. Annie and Finnick had crept out about ten minutes before to go skinny dipping in the Jacuzzi.

"Damn right." I smirked back. We crept past the sunbeds and approached the edge of the Jacuzzi. Finnick and Annie were making out, their clothes flung on the ground. Luckily, the bubbles were on so Cato and I did see their…Parts. I scooped up an armful of clothes and Cato did the same. We both picked up a towel each and, stifling our laughs, we dashed back inside the hotel. When we burst into his room, we couldn't keep our laughter in anymore.

"What did you two do?" Katniss asked, lifting her head from Peeta's shoulder. They were sat on the couch watching a DVD. Marvel was sat up on his bed, texting someone. It was probably one of his girl toys that missed him.

"We thought you guys were all sleeping." Cato managed to say through his laughter.

"Just answer the question. And why are you holding bundles of clothes?" We explained what we had done and Katniss and Peeta laughed with us.

"Serves them right. Nobody beats me in a race and gets away with it." I grinned.

"Whatever, Clove. It's getting late. We should go back. We don't want to be here when Finnick comes running through the door, naked." Katniss smirked.

"I don't either." Marvel frowned. "Can I come back to your room? I think I'd rather see Annie come running through the door naked."

"Man whore." I muttered. Katniss picked up a cushion from the couch and threw it into Marvel's stomach. He went tumbling off of the bed, landing on the floor with a thump. Katniss and I laughed and dashed outside before Marvel could retaliate. As soon as I had closed the door to our room, there was a knock.

"Yes?" I asked, opening the door.

"You forgot something." Cato said, leaning against the door frame the same way he had when we went on our first date more than a year ago.

"What?" I frowned, patting my pockets. My phone was still in my shorts pocket. He leaned forwards and pecked me on the lips.

"That. Night, Clovey." He said, pushing himself off of the doorframe.

"Night, Cato." I smiled, closing the door when he had stepped away.

"He makes me want to puke." Katniss said. I turned around to face her. She was lying with her legs and body on the bed length ways, dangling her head over the side.

"What? Why?" I asked, frowning. I dropped down next to her, copying her position.

"He's such a cheese ball." She rolled her eyes.

"I think he's sweet." I protested.

Well, you would. _I _think he's cheesy." She said matter-of-factly.

"Wouldn't your heart, like, melt if Peeta said stuff like that to you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No! I'd punch him in the face!"

"Maybe you don't appreciate what he says because you just don't know him like I do."

"Maybe I just don't know the inside of his _mouth _like you do." Katniss muttered. I shoved her and she went tumbling off of the bed.

"You're right, for once."


	6. Pranks Are Sweet

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( Thanks go to Traceuse for all the extra information. :)**

"Marvel, you can't buy that." I said, mentally face palming.

"Why not? Come on man, it's funny." He responded, holding up a shirt that said 'choking hazard'. There was an image underneath that wasn't exactly appropriate.

"It's a bit…Sexual." I said. Clove stopped looking through postcards long enough to turn to Marvel and say,

"It'll make you look even more like a man whore."

"That's enough out of you, Fuhrman." Marvel mumbled, placing the shirt back on the rack. "Can we go eat now?" We had all gone out to look around all the tourist shops and grab a bite to eat. We were going to hit the beach later. It was just me, Clove and Marvel. Clove and I had wanted to escape the wrath of Annie and Finnick. Marvel just wanted to watch more Spanish ladies sunbathing topless. Katniss and Peeta had stayed behind to make sure Annie and Finnick didn't go on a mad rampage or anything. They had been banned from the pool. It turns out security had been watching them the whole time on the CCTV cameras. They decided that banning Annie and Finn from the pool wasn't enough. Somehow the footage had ended up on YouTube. Their private parts had been blurred out, but it already had over twenty thousand hits.

"Sure." We walked out of the small shop and turned left.

"Let's eat there." Clove said, pointing at an expensive looking restaurant. I had quite a lot of money on me, but there was only so much my parents were willing to give me. If I had a job I'd have more money, but nobody was exactly willing to take me on when they found out I had a criminal record from shoplifting.

"Um, can we not? It looks kind of expensive." I mumbled.

"Stupid boy. I'm paying." Clove's parents had given her two hundred dollars for the trip and she already had another two hundred saved up from babysitting and tutoring.

"Clove, I'm not letting you buy me lunch." I said. She grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the restaurant.

"You can pay from me." Marvel grinned, tagging along next to us.

"Fine. You guys paid the other night, remember?"

"That was because we started a food fight…" I pointed out.

"Doesn't matter. I'm paying."

"Clove, I'm not going to let you."

"You will, or you'll end up with a knife in your groin." She said, silencing me. She wasn't joking. Once we reached the restaurant we were seated and handed menus.

"I think I'm just going to have a side salad." I said. It was only three euros.

"Nope." Clove said, popping the 'p'. "Tres langostas y una botella de champán, por favor." She grinned at the waiter.

"Cuántos años tienes, señora?" He asked doubtfully. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but Clove was grinning flirtatiously. The waiter didn't look much older than us.

"Oh, estoy veintiuno. No te preocupes por eso." She winked at him. He nodded, picked up our menus and walked away.

"What was that?" I asked, frowning.

"I ordered three lobsters and a bottle of champagne. He asked me how old I was and I said don't worry, I'm twenty one. I can't believe he fell for that." She laughed.

"Of course he fell for it, Clove, You were flirting with him." I frowned again.

"Do you want alcohol or not?" She sighed. I sighed and crossed my arms. She also sighed and rested her hand on my knee.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"It's fine, honestly." I said. She gave me a look that said 'It's not'. I slipped my hand into hers and squeezed it.

"Well as sweet as this is, I'm hungry." Marvel said, reaching into the bread basket that had been set on our table. He shoved a whole roll in his mouth and started to chew it with his mouth open.

"Marvel, that's disgusting." Clove rolled her eyes.

"Whabeber oo ay, Cwove." He said with his mouth full. Translation- Whatever you say, Clove. She rolled her eyes again and threw a spoon at him. It bounced off of his forehead and he gave her the finger.

"What do you see in her, Cato?" He asked when he had swallowed his bread. I knew that he thought Clove was pretty cool. He just got annoyed sometimes because I got to her before he could make her one of his toys.

"Whatever, Quaid. I know you wish she was yours." I smirked.

"Hah. I don't do relationships."

"So I've heard. Have you ever actually dated someone for more than a month?" I asked.

"Yes, actually. I date Glimmer for two months when I was fifteen. That was my longest relationship."

"Oh dear." Clove said, rolling her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time.

"What about you, Clove? Been in many serious relationships?" Marvel asked, grinning.

"Yes, actually. I was with this guy called Randy-"

"What kind of a name is that?" Marvel interrupted.

"I know. Anyway, I was with him for about six months when I was fourteen to fifteen. I was with Don on and off, and now I'm with Cato." She said, smiling when she said my name.

"Want to hear about Cato's days as a man whore?"

"I'm sure she doesn't, Marvel." I warned.

"Oh, I'd love too actually. So tell me, Marvel. Who has he been with other than Glimmer?" Clove asked, smirking.

"Let me think…" Marvel placed a finger on his chin, pretending to think. "There was Glimmer…Johanna…Enobaria…Cecilia…Madge…Fox…Alexia…Is that all? Oh, no, there was Cashmere as well. And Clove, of course."

"They don't count." I said, resting my forehead on my hand.

"Why not?"

"Because…"

"Because Alexia was a one-nighter? Because you were only with Madge for a few weeks? You were still with them, Cato." Marvel smirked.

"I haven't slept about like you do in over a year. Is it really that hard for you to believe that I've changed?" I asked. He had been teasing me all year, saying that life wasn't fun now that I had a serious girlfriend. Even when I was with Glimmer I hadn't exactly been faithful, but she hadn't been either. I was determined to do things right with Clove and not fuck things up again like I did last Halloween.

"Yes. You realise that nobody's scared of you anymore, right? Well they are, just not as much. They think you've gone soft."

"Because he's dating me?" Clove asked, frowning. "Didn't they see what he did to Allan last year?"

"That was a year ago."

"Well, they're right. I _have_ gone a little soft. But it's not a bad thing." I pointed out.

"Whatever you say, man. Whatever you say."

**Meanwhile, In The Girls' Room:**

"You sure it'll work, Finn?"

"Oh yeah. We're going to make them wish they'd never made fools of Annie Cresta and Finnick Odair. Pranks are sweet, revenge is sweeter.


	7. Ever Heard Of Photoshop?

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( **

**One Week Later:**

"Let us out of this damn closet, Katniss!" Cato yelled, banging on the locked door.

"No until you two sort things out!" Came her muffled reply.

"For fuck's sake, Katniss! There's only a few days left of this holiday and I don't want to spend them stuck with this bastard!" I yelled, thumping the wall. I heard the click of a door and knew that they'd left the room.

"Oh, I'm a bastard? Well you're a bitch!" Cato shouted, turning around to face me. His blue eyes were practically blazing with anger. I raised my hand and slapped him, straight across the face. I thought back to what had put me in this very awkward situation. It all started about three hours ago.

"_We're going down to the beach. Coming?" Katniss asked after Finnick had opened the door to their room._

"_Nah. We're gonna hit the pool, today." He responded._

"_I thought you were banned." I said._

"_They unbanned me after posting that video on YouTube." He said, frowning._

"_Well, we'll see you later then. We'll meet back here for lunch." Katniss said. She always had some kind of plan. Finnick waved goodbye to us and then shut the door._

"_I love the beach." Annie said excitedly once we had reached it. It was early morning, so there was hardly anyone around. _

"_Don't we all?" Katniss asked, a smile spreading across her face. _

_After a few hours of swimming, sunbathing and chatting, we made our way up to one of the restaurants that lined the front of the beach to get ice-cream. Annie pulled out her I-Phone to check her emails on the Wi-Fi and gasped._

"_Clove, Finnick just emailed me this picture. I'm sorry." She turned her phone around to show me the picture. It was Cato, making out with some girl in his room._

"_Seriously? This seriously happening _again_. I'm being shown pictures on my son of a bitch boyfriend with his hands all over another girl. At least they're not on fucking Facebook this time!" I said, standing up and walking out of the restaurant. The last time that'd happened I'd cried. I had only been with him for just over a month and I'd been able to hold in my tears until I was on my own. Now I'd been with him a year, and it wasn't so easy. The tears started to fall just as I rammed the key into the door to my room._

"_Stupid, stupid girl." I muttered to myself. "He hasn't changed. He'll never change. Why didn't you listen to Johanna?" I jumped away from the door when I heard another key being inserted into the lock. Cato pushed the door open, pocketed the key and stepped into the room._

"_Clove, I need to talk to you." He said, glaring at me coldly._

"_Well, I don't want to talk to you, bastard!" I yelled._

"_Hey, I didn't do anything wrong!" He yelled._

"_Cut the crap and get out, Cato!" I screamed, slipping my flip-flop off and throwing it at his head. He stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut. The flip-flop hit it with a soft thump. I lay down on the couch, my angry tears dripping onto the velvet cushions._

_Eventually, I fell asleep. When I woke up, Katniss and Peeta were staring down at me._

"_What do you want?" I asked, groggily. I felt like crap, and I probably looked like it too. Not that I cared right now, of course._

"_I want you to go talk to Cato." She said, crossing her arms._

"_He's the last person I want to talk to." I scowled._

"_Well, tough. You're going to talk to him. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't cheat on you." She said firmly._

"_There's picture proof! Anyway, he looked really angry when he barged in here earlier. Maybe I upset him or something, and that's why he did it." I said thoughtfully. Katniss rolled her eyes and nodded to Peeta. He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. He ran out of the room, closely followed by Katniss. He unlocked the door to his room, ignoring the fact that I was yelling every swear word under the sun at him. _

"_Marvel, now!" He yelled, hurrying into the room. I squeezed my eyes shut when I felt myself being thrown through the air. I opened them when I landed. It was dark and Cato was sat next to me, sulking. I shot to my feet and reached for the door._

"_Let me out!" I yelled. "There's a fucking pig in here!" I pounded on the door, but it didn't budge._

"_Sort things out, and then you can leave!" Peeta yelled back. Great. Fucking great._

"How, exactly, am I a bitch?" I snapped.

"Seriously, Clove?" Cato asked sarcastically.

"Seriously, Cato. _You're _the one that can't seem to keep his hands off of other girls!" I shouted.

"What have you been taking? The only girl I've had my hands on is you! I haven't even _looked _at another girl since we started dating!"

"Except Becca Williamson and that Spanish girl!"

"Honestly, Clove, I have no idea what you're talking about." He said, his voice going back to its normal tone.

"Annie showed me a picture of you making out with some girl." I said.

"Well, that never happened. Annie texted me a picture of you making out with Don at the beach." He pulled his phone out and showed me the picture.

"What the fuck, Cato! I'm fifteen in that picture and in Ohio!" I yelled, poking him roughly in the shoulder.

"Oh. Right." He muttered, putting his phone away. "Oops?"

"What about the picture of you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Ever heard of Photoshop?" He smirked.

"We've been pranked." I said as the thought hit me.

"Huh?"

"Think about it. Annie and Finnick sent the photos after we pranked them. This is just their payback." I said, running a hand through my hair. It had fallen out of its pony tail when Peeta had thrown me into the closet.

"I'm sorry, Clove." Cato sighed, resting his forehead against mine.

"It's not your fault." I responded.

"I called you a bitch, though."

"So? I called you a bastard. And a pig. And I _slapped _you."

"Didn't hurt." He grinned.

"It better have." I smirked. He leaned in to kiss me and I kissed him back, tangling my fingers in his blonde hair. He snaked his arms round my waist and pushed up against the door. Suddenly, we were falling. Cato landed on top of me on the floor.

"Oww." I groaned as he rolled off of me.

"Sorry. It went all quiet. We thought you'd killed each other." Annie said. I opened my eyes and realised that all of our friends were stood there, some of them stifling laughter. Katniss extended a hand and pulled me off of the floor. I clutched my ribs, groaning.

"I think fatass over there may have bruised your ribs." Marvel snickered.

"It's not fat, it's muscle." Cato frowned.

"That makes it even more painful." Katniss said, wincing on my behalf. She should know. Thresh fell on her about four months ago and I think he actually cracked one of her ribs.

"I'm sorry, Clove. Again." Cato muttered the last part.

"Not your fault. It's Annie and Finn's." I said, turning around to glare at them. I had a knife strapped to my thigh, hidden by my cover up. I hadn't changed when we'd got back from the beach. I pulled it out and threw it. It landed in the wall between Annie and Finnick's heads.

"Do something like that again and I won't miss." I said, clutching onto Cato's shoulder as I hobbled out of the room.

This prank war just reached a whole new level of serious.

**Cato's awesome and everything, but I think I'd burst into tears if he fell on me. **


	8. You've Got To Be Kidding Me

**Sorry for the late update, I've been crazy busy for the last few days with homework, sports and catching up with my school work. I've also written two chapters for a Clato story, set in high school again, that I'll post either next year or over Christmas. I may be updating less for a while because I have a load of language exams coming up, but I'll be back afterwards and I'll try my best to update daily. I don't own The Hunger Games. :(**

**Cato's POV:**

I laughed as I dunked Finnick under the water for the fifth time in half an hour. That was how long we'd been at the beach for. We came to look in all the rock pools, but we'd gotten distracted when we'd seen the Pedalo boats. We had rented one for about three hours. The girls were peddling in a circle about twenty five metres away. The guys were all in the water because we had decided to jump off of the boat into the freezing water.

"Dude, cut it out!" He yelled, splashing me when he resurfaced.

"No, you deserve it. You almost broke me and Clove up." I smirked.

"We knew you weren't actually going to break up!" He protested.

"Well, you came too damn close for my liking." I frowned.

"I wish you would break up." Marvel said, floating peacefully on his back. "Then I could add her to my toy box."

"Your toy box?" Peeta asked, one eyebrow raised.

"For all my special girl toys." I could hear the smirk in his voice. I resisted the urge to punch him in the face.

"When are you going to grow a pair and get a girlfriend anyway, Quaid?" I asked instead of beating the crap out of him.

"Yeah. You're the only one here that isn't dating anyone." Peeta said. He was right, of course. I had been with Clove for a little over a year. Peeta and Katniss had been together for just under a year, and Finnick and Annie had been together for two years.

"Um, never? I can't enjoy just one girl's company." He sighed.

"Well, you'd better learn. Nobody's gonna want you as their one-nighter when you're old and ugly." Finnick grinned.

"I'll never be ugly." Marvel said, sounding slightly offended.

"You already are, Quaid." I turned around in the water, coming face-to-face with a smirking Clove.

"Hello." I said, wrapping my arms around her waist.

"Hello to you too." She smiled, wrapping her own arms around my neck.

"I didn't hear you swim over." I said.

"I'm a ninja." She grinned.

"Be jealous, Peeta! My girlfriend's a ninja!" I yelled, pulling her closer. Clove laughed and swatted the back of my head.

"Did you do it?" She whispered in my ear.

"Oh yeah. Are you ready for your part of the plan?" I asked, grinning.

"Of course. It'll be the best." She said, also grinning. One of her hands made its way down my back, stroking the thin scar.

"Clove, it's okay." I whispered. I knew that she always got sad when she thought about everything I'd gotten involved with.

"Yeah, I know, I just…Blame myself." She sighed.

"Don't. Anyway, I blame myself for your bad ribs." I placed my hand over her ribcage. We had taken her to be checked over by the hotel medic three days ago. She had three bruised ribs and a bruise the size of an apple on her stomach.

"They don't really hurt that much, anymore." She smiled faintly.

"Liar."

"Rude."

"No, I'm honest." I removed my hand from her stomach and poked her on the nose.

"Come on. We should get back to the boat before we all freeze." She said, grabbing my hand and swimming towards the Pedalo. The others followed, laughing and talking loudly.

-Line Break-

"Where the fuck are our suitcases?!" Finnick yelled, barging out of Clove's room where we were keeping them.

"Everybody's suitcases except Annie's and yours are in there." Clove responded calmly.

"Well, where are ours then?" Annie asked, standing up from the couch.

"Hmm." I said, rubbing my chin and pretending to think. "In the ocean?"

"_What_?!"

"Cato dumped them in the sea earlier. I think you two were too busy sucking face to notice him outing them in the trunk of the car. They'll be at the bottom by now." Clove grinned.

"Why would you do that, man?" Finnick asked me.

"You know why." I smirked.

"Fine. You win the prank war." He grumbled.

"It's okay. We bought you some clothes to wear in the airport!" Clove smiled cheerfully and walked over to Katniss' bed. She pulled two bags out from underneath it and tossed them to Annie and Finnick.

"You have _got _to be kidding me." Annie muttered, pulling a pair of lime green shorts and a luminous yellow shirt with frilly shirts out of the bag. Finnick wore the same expression as her as he saw his own clothes. I had picked out a red button up shirt patterned with blue flamingos and a pair of knee length white shorts for him.

"Go try them on, then! We don't want to be late for our flight!" Clove grinned. Seeing as they were still in their swimming stuff, they had no choice.

"You look amazing." I grinned when they walked out of Clove's room, wearing their new clothes. Annie glared at her.

"Fuck off."

-Line Break-

**Clove's POV:**

"I had so much fun, but I'm glad to be home." Katniss smiled after we had collected our bags. We were on USA soil again and I was kind of sad that we hadn't had more time in Spain.

"Me too." I agreed with her.

"If you cry, I swear I'll go crazy." Marvel said. He hadn't exactly had the best flight. He had been sat next to a woman who had a screaming baby. He had a puke stain on his shirt from the baby and black bags under his eyes.

"Me? And Katniss? _Cry_? I think you've already gone crazy." I grinned and glanced over at Cato. He was stood a few metres away, staring over everybody in the airport's heads at something I couldn't see. He was a shade or two paler than usual.

"Are you okay?" I asked, approaching him. He spun around to face me. There was an emotion in his eyes that I couldn't quite place. Fear? No, Cato didn't get scared. Worry? No, there's nothing to worry about. The longer I looked into his eyes the more I started to believe it was fear, and that terrified me.

"We have to leave. Now." He said, loud enough so that the others could hear him. He grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the exit.

"Cato, wha-"

"Keep your head down. Don't make eye contact with anyone. Don't talk to anyone. Just keep walking." He said. I looked behind me at the others and his grip on my hand tightened. Our friends were following us, a few metres away. I stopped walking.

"I'm not going anywhere until you give me an explanation." I said stubbornly.

"Clove, please. Not now. Not here." He pleaded. I remembered the fear I had seen in his eyes and allowed him to pull me into the parking lot. He tossed his suitcase and mine in the trunk of his car and pushed me over to the front passenger seat door. Sighing, I climbed in. I didn't have much of a choice anyway, he had driven me here so my car was at home.

"Will you tell me now?" I asked as he pulled out into the road.

"It was nothing." He said, staring straight ahead at the other cars.

"No, that was something. And I want to know what." I scowled.

"Trust me, Clove. You need to drop it. And you're staying at mine tonight." He responded.

"If there's trouble, then Lydia's coming as well. My parents are going out of town tonight and I'm not leaving her on her own."

"That's fine. Just…Don't trust anyone except for me, Lydia and Katniss."

"What about Annie? Or Finnick, Peeta and Marvel? What about all our other friends? I can't trust them?"

"No. Not even them." He finally turned to look at me. This time I was definite that there was fear in his eyes.

"Trusting them could get you killed."


	9. I'm Gifted

**I think this will be the only update until I get my laptop fixed. :( I'm going slightly crazy not being able to write. :( I don't own The Hunger Games. **

**Cato's POV:**

Why haven't they tried anything yet? I know that I saw Boggs and the gang leader, Chaff, in the airport. They should have tried something; nobody gets away from them as easily as I did. Maybe they're just waiting for the right moment.

"You okay?" Clove asked, throwing herself onto the couch. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into my side.

"Yeah, just thinking." I responded. Clove and Lydia had been staying at my place for four days now. At first, Clove had kept asking why she couldn't trust her friends. She wanted an explanation of why I went all weird at the airport. I hadn't told her who I saw. She couldn't trust her friends because I didn't know if they'd recruited anyone from our group to get to me, or to hurt her to get me to do what they want.

"Hmm. Okay." She said, raising an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You've been acting weird lately. Not as weird as you were in the airport, but still weird." She sighed.

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm sure I'll be fine when school starts in three days." I said.

"Don't even remind me about that place. There's only so many times I can watch Gloss and Glimmer making out in the cafeteria without feeling sick." She groaned.

"At least when _we _make out there's no one around." I grinned and pressed my lips to hers. She kissed me back immediately, running her fingers through my hair. I placed one of my hands on her cheek and snaked my other arm around her waist. We broke apart when we heard a scream.

"Seriously, guys! That's, like, the fifth time this week! Go do that in the garden, or something!" Lydia yelled, slamming the living room door behind her and flopping into a chair.

"She's just cranky because Vick has a new girlfriend." Clove smirked, causing Lydia to throw a pillow at her.

"Shut up, Clove. You have no idea what you're talking about ._I _broke up with _him_. Four months ago! I'm over that." She responded.

"Your nose just grew." I smirked, earning a pillow in the face. Lydia had broken up with Vick four months ago because he wasn't 'mature' enough for her. I thought that was pretty rich coming from Lydia, the girl who collected My Little Ponies until she was eleven.

"Clove, I've changed my mind." She said, standing up. "I don't like him. You can't keep him." She started to walk towards the door. I got up and charged at her. When I reached her, I threw her over my shoulder.

"Put me down, you bastard!" She yelled.

"Watch your language." Clove scolded. I carried Lydia outside, into the rain.

"If you don't put me down right now I'll call the cops and tell them you're harassing me!" She screamed. She slapped me on the back when I started laughing. I carried her over to the swimming pool and lifted the cover up.

"Say I'm amazing." I demanded.

"No." She replied. I lowered her slightly and turned around so that her hair was skimming the water.

"Say it."

"Fine. Because it's raining and I don't want to get thrown into a _pool_…You're amazing." She said, sarcasm heavy in her voice.

I threw her in the pool anyway.

When I got tired of laughing at Lydia, I wrapped her in a towel and led her back to the living room. I pushed her lightly into the seat she had been sat on earlier. She glared at me a little, but I knew that she'd forgive me eventually. Before I could retake my seat next to Clove my older brother, Drew, pushed past me and threw himself down next to her.

"Hey there, Clove." He smirked. She rolled her eyes when he winked and threw his arm around the back of the couch behind her.

"Hello, Drew." She said stiffly. My older brother is nineteen years old and clearly has a death wish. He flirts with Clove constantly, partly because he thinks she's hot and partly to annoy her. He mainly does it because he knows it makes me want to punch him.

"How's my favourite girl?" He asked, still smirking.

"I'm fine." She said in the same stiff tone.

"Good. You know, out of all the girls Cato's ever brought home…You're my favourite." He waggled his eyebrows. He looks nothing like me or our younger brother Chris. He has brown hair and our mom's dark blue eyes. Chris and I have our mom's blonde hair and our dad's light blue eyes.

"That's enough." I warned, clenching my fists.. He held up his free hand in mock surrender.

"Easy there, bro. I'm just appreciating Clove's company." He smirked. Drew's my brother and I love him and everything, but sometimes he makes me want to hit him with a bus.

"Well, go appreciate some other girl's company." I responded.

"Maybe I'll go appreciate Lydia's company." He said.

"I'll give you a nipple cripple so painful you won't be able do anything but moan in pain for weeks." Clove snapped. Drew's eyes widened.

"Message received." He stated before running out of the room.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

"Do what?"

"Make him run away. Nobody scares the shit out of him like that." I said. Clove just smiled and folded her arms behind her head.

"I'm gifted."

**Sorry if this chapter sucked, it was more of a filler chapter. I have a plan typed out for this fic, but it's on the laptop I broke. :L I hope you enjoyed it anyway, and my laptop should be fixed by the tenth at the latest and next Friday at the earliest. :) In the mean time I'll try not to go crazy. The reason this author's note is so long is because I wanted to get the chapter up to 1000 words. :) I'm sneaky like that. ;)**


	10. Unforgettable

**Again, sorry for the late update. Turns out it's going to be more expensive and take to longer to fix than I thought. :( As I said before, my plan is on my laptop so I'm just kind of making this up for the moment because I can't remember what I wrote. Oops. :)**

**Lydia's POV:**

"AHH!" Drew screamed, pulling the pillow out from under his head and pressing it down over his eyes to shield them from the light.

"Happy birthday!" Cato yelled, sitting down next to him on the bed. After a few minutes, He pulled the pillow away from his eyes and sat up.

"Did you _have_ to open the blinds?" He snarled at Chris, who was stood laughing by the window.

"Yes." He smirked. I could that Drew was resisting the urge to throw the pillow at him.

"My birthday, my rules." He frowned. "Now shut the fucking blinds."

"Somebody's grumpy." Clove said. She was stood next to me in the doorway and we were holding a stack of birthday cards each.

"Only because I hadn't seen you, Clove." Drew grinned, turning to face us. Clove rolled her eyes and tossed her stack of cards at him. He caught them easily, but mine hit him in the face.

"Just open the cards before I punch you, Drew." Cato sighed.

"What? No presents?" He pouted.

"You can open the presents at your party later." Chris said, coming away from the blinds and sitting on the other side of Drew. I didn't really hate Chris anymore, but he wasn't really a friend. I didn't mind Drew, but I knew that he annoyed Clove. And Cato…Well, he's Cato. I would never tell him how much I do really care about him. He's like a brother to me. He treats me like I imagine Joey would have.

"Party?" Drew asked, the confusion clear on his face.

"Yeah. It's a surprise party, but you can call some friends and invite them if you want. We've invited all of your friends that we know of." Cato said. Drew nodded and started to open the first card.

-Line Break-

**Clove's POV:**

"What's _she _doing here?!" I hissed in Cato's ear, squeezing his hand tighter.

"Ouch, Clove!" He yelped.

"Sorry. But why's she here?" I asked, loosening my grip on his hand but not letting go. I nodded in the direction of her.

"I have no idea." He said when he looked in the direction I had nodded in. "DREW!" He yelled. Drew wondered away from the buffet table we had set up.

"Yes, little brother?" He asked when he reached us. He winked at me and I glared back at him.

"Why did you invite Becca Williamson?" Cato snapped.

"She's hot." He said simply.

"She's not." Cato responded.

"She's a bitch." I added for good measure.

"Is Clove jealous of Becca?" Drew asked me, smirking. "She's about as interesting as a brick wall, but she's good to look at."

"Say that again and I'll set Lydia on you." I hissed, grabbing him by the collar. He held his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, Clove. Okay. I'll tell her to leave." He muttered. Drew acts like an asshole and he's a bit of a man whore, but he cares really. I can trust him.

"Clove, dear? What are you doing?" Becca asked, a smile tugging at her lips as she walked over to us. I released Drew and glared at her.

"None of your business, Williamson." I snarled, taking Cato's hand again.

"Why so hostile?" She asked, cocking her head slightly.

"Leave, Becca." Cato scowled.

"Ah, Cato. Looking more handsome than ever." She smiled, stepping closer and running her hand down his arm.

"Go be a slut with someone else's boyfriend, Becca. You're not welcome here." I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Drew wants me here." She smirked.

"I really _don't_. Not anymore." Drew said, crossing his arms and standing up straighter. He was like a giant. I only came up to his chest.

"But the party's only just getting started. I can't leave until I've had my fun with Cato now, can I?" I lost it when she said that. I slapped her straight across the face. It felt amazing, but what she did next surprised me. She pulled her fist back and punched me, had, in the eye. It stung like a bitch and I knew that I'd have a black eye by the end of the day.

"I've been working out, Clove. Maybe I'll get into my own TTE. It'll be better than yours was." She smirked. I kicked in the stomach, sending her sprawling to the floor. I dived on top of her and punched her in the mouth. I heard a crack that could only have been her front teeth and blood trickled from her mouth. I punched her again in the nose and again in the cheek. I punched her for all the shit she had caused last Halloween and I punched her for thinking she could get between Cato and me. I punched her until Drew picked me up and threw me, screaming, over his shoulder.

"Put me down! Let me finish her!" I screeched, pounding my fists against his back.

"Calm down, Clove! Chris, get Becca out of here! Cato, get some ice or something!" Drew yelled. Chris scampered over to the half-conscious Becca. He pulled her up and dragged her out of the house. I watched Cato rummaging around in the freezer, his face pale. Drew waited until Chris had left before placing me on the couch.

"Alright everyone, party's over!" He declared. People started making their ways outside, back to their cars. I crossed my arms over my chest, glaring at them all from the couch. Tears of anger threatened to spill from my eyes, but I furiously blinked them away. I don't cry. Ever. Cato slid onto the sofa and wrapped an arm around me. I rested my head on his shoulders and he held a bag of frozen peas to my eye.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled.

"For what? Becca deserved it." Cato said, tracing invisible circles on my shoulder with his finger.

"For ruining Drew's birthday."

"Don't think of it as ruined. Think of it as _unforgettable_." I lifted my head from Cato's shoulder and saw that he was smirking.

"Unforgettable?"

"Yeah. He could to watch a beautiful girl beat the shit out of some whore." Cato grinned, still holding the frozen peas to my eye.

"Come here." I said, smiling. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down to mine.

**I didn't put it at the top, so I don't own The Hunger Games.**


	11. What's Your Problem?

**Halleluiah, my laptop is fixed! Finally! :) I HAVE MY PLAN BACK, THIS IS SO EXCITING! I don't own The Hunger Games. :( **

**One Month Later:**

"Happy birthday, douchebag!" Everybody yelled as Marvel walked into home room. Katniss, Johanna, Cato and Gale were in the same homeroom as me. Johanna blew on one of those streamer things that make annoying noises and Gale threw a handful of confetti over him.

"Um, thanks." He said, spitting a piece of 'happy birthday' confetti out of his mouth.

"You're welcome, Marv." Johanna grinned.

"What have I told you about calling me 'Marv'?" He sighed irritably before taking his seat and bickering with Katniss about Jackie Fox.

"Cato, say happy birthday." I said, prodding Cato in the side.

"Hm? Oh, later." He replied. He glanced at me for only a second before turning back to his history textbook.

"Did you have a good weekend then?" I asked.

"Yeah, Clove. It was great." He muttered.

"So…What did you do?" I asked, hoping to get more than five words out of him.

"Stuff." He said. Cato and I had barely spoken since school started up again last month. To be honest, it was really starting to piss me off. I hadn't done anything wrong, unless he was more annoyed over the fight than he had made out to be. Whatever. I'll get to the bottom of it. I always do.

**Cato:**

I'm on the verge of having a breakdown. Seriously. I'd hardly spoken to Clove the past two weeks, and whenever I do speak to her it's only about school stuff or planning for Marvel's birthday party. She had tried to make plans with me for the weekend at lunch. I think my exact response was. 'I'm busy doing…Math. I like math.' I had a good reason though. The gang still hadn't contacted me and I'm worried that they're waiting for some big moment. That or they're waiting until I make myself sick with worry and go to them instead of them coming to me. I was hoping that if I pushed Clove away until this whole thing blows over then they won't touch her. If they hurt her in anyway I don't know what I'll do to them, but it probably won't be legal. I can't tell if Clove's annoyed that I haven't been speaking to her, angry or just…Upset.

The next thing I knew I was up against the lockers, Clove gripping my collar.

I'm gonna go with 'she's feeling angry'.

"What's your problem, Ludwig? You tell me not to trust my friends, that it could get me killed. Then you make me live with you a week. And now you're ignoring me. Are you on your fucking man period or something?" She growled. Yeah, she was definitely angry. At that moment, I was incredibly glad that there was nobody else in the hallway. I'd never stop getting teased if one of the guys saw me slammed up against a locker by my girlfriend. At least she had the decency to do it after everyone else had gone home.

"No, I'm just…Stressed. I have the first basketball game of the season tomorrow." I said, flailing for an excuse.

"Stressed? You're _stressed_? 'Stressed' is having to constantly look after your little sister because your parents are never home. 'Stressed' is dealing with abuse from one crappy guy who decided it would be fun to break your wrist and follow you to West Virginia. ' Stressed' is having a three thousand word essay due in first lesson tomorrow that you haven't even started because you've been wondering why your boyfriend's being a dick and ignoring you for no good reason! So I'll ask you again. What. Is. Your. Problem?" She said through gritted teeth. For someone who had trained with weapons half her life, she was doing a pretty good of controlling herself. I mean, she hasn't punched me yet.

"Honestly Clove, it's nothing. I guess I'm just tired." I said. It was half of the truth. I was tired from staying up late wondering about the gang. I just couldn't tell her what I'd seen. If I lose her again, I'll go flying of the rails and who knows what kind of shit I'd get into then?

"And that's all it is?" Clove asked. She loosened her grip on my collar and some of the angry redness faded from her cheeks.

"Promise." I lied. It broke my heart to lie to her, but it was for her own safety.

"So…It's not because I started a fight at Drew's party?" She asked. I could see the worry in her eyes. I eased her hands off of my collar and held them tightly.

"No. That was hot." I responded. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Well, you were. She was…Just Becca. You were the hot one." I said.

"Yeah, nice save meat head." She scoffed.

"Meat head? How rude." I smirked.

"The truth hurts." She smirked back.

"Right. That's it." I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder. I charged out of the building and ran out of the school gate.

"Where are we going?" She laughed.

"Marvel's, remember? You better not have anything electric in your pockets, because you're going straight in the pool!"

"No!" She screamed, kicking her legs and hitting my back. I had driven to Marvel's this morning and left my car there seeing as he only lived around the corner from the school.

"Yes!" I screamed back in a high pitched tone.

"I don't sound like that, dickhead." She protested.

"Yeah you do, Clove." I knocked on the door. Marvel opened it and pointed outside.

"The others are out there." He barely batted an eyelid and Clove, who was currently trying to wiggle off of my shoulder.

"Thanks." I ran outside to the pool and stood at the edge of the water.

"Hey, guys." I greeted Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Madge, Johanna who still hated me, Finnick, Jackie and Annie. To be honest, I liked Clove's friends more than my own old ones. I still hung out with Marvel because I'd known him since we were ankle bitters and the twerp was my best friend. But I didn't hang out with Alexia, Allan or Glimmer anymore. Hanging out with Glimmer would be awkward and she was annoying, Allan made a move on Clove after she dumped my sorry ass last year and Alexia…Well, she was just a bitch.

"Don't do this, Cato. You'll regret it, I swear." Clove threatened.

"Oops." I said, dropping her into the pool fully clothed. When I was done laughing, I offered her my hand. She took it, but before I could pull her out she pulled me in with her.

"I'll get you for that." I muttered.

"Yeah, I'm sure you will tough man." Clove laughed.

The sooner Boggs and Chaff get the hell out of here, the sooner I can go back to the way things were. Just me and Clove.

**So, I was wondering if you wanted the little manwhore that is Marvel to get a proper girlfriend. Tell me if you do, and who, in your reviews. :)**


	12. What Have You Done?

**Important! - I've put up a poll about Marvel! I need you to answer it; I'll be taking it down on Monday at about four o'clock England time. :) Updates may come slower because I've started another Clato story called 'Things Change, People Change' so I'll be updating that too. :) I don't own The Hunger Games. **

**Clove:**

"Clove, door." Lydia mumbled into her pillow.

"You get it." I groaned, rolling over to face the door.

"No, what if it's a murderer?" She responded.

"Then you'll get killed. Now go." I waited a few minutes for her to get up, but she started snoring softly again. Muttering curses under my breath, I pulled my hoodie on over my vest top and went to answer the door. Actually, it was Cato's old hoodie that I'd stolen from him. It had been big on him, so it came down to my knees. Yawning, I pulled the door open.

"What are _you _doing here? At seven in the morning?" I asked, frowning. I stepped outside, leaving the door ajar behind me.

"I had to see you."

"Just leave me alone! This is borderline stalking, Don!" I yelled.

"I'm sorry, okay?! You're all I ever think about." He replied, taking my hand. I pulled it away like he'd stung me.

"You had your chance. You fucked things up. Now leave me hell alone!"

"No!" He grabbed my wrist, the wrist that had been broken, and squeezed it slightly.

"Let go." I whispered.

"Come on, Clove. I can see in your eyes that something's wrong. Is it Cato? What did he do?" Don asked.

"Nothing!" I pulled my wrist back. "He's just been a bit distant lately, okay? Now back the hell off before I put a knife through your balls."

"Clove…"

"Out. Now."

"I can't just leave! I drove all this way to see you!"

"He giving you trouble, Clove?" I turned around to see Lydia leaning against the doorframe, glaring at Don.

"Nothing I can't handle, Lyds. Go back inside." I said softly.

"No. I'm not leaving until this idiot gets the hell off our property." She turned to Don. "You can leave willingly, or I can chase you."

"Lydia, I know you don't want to do that. You liked me when I was dating Clove." Don said.

"I like Cato more. Now piss off." She frowned. I reached inside and picked my knife up from the table next to the door.

"You can leave or _I'll _chase you." I said, twirling the knife between my fingers and glaring at him.

"Fine. I'm staying with my Aunt, come find me if you change your mind. I know you will, Clo. They always do." With that, he turned and walked down the driveway. I resisted the urge to throw my knife at his head.

"What were you saying about Cato being distant?" Lydia asked.

"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing." I responded.

"That's what girls say before they get cheated on." Lydia smirked.

"Cato isn't going to cheat on me!" I protested. "Well…Again."

"Uh-huh…" The smile on Lydia's face was truly evil.

"I don't like that smile, Lydia Fuhrman."

-Line Break-

"Knife Head come in, this is Miss Awesome."

"Well, obviously! Who else would be stupid enough to do this?" I hissed into my walkie-talkie.

"Loons?"

"Exactly! And I really don't appreciate being called 'Knife Head'." Lydia and I had been hiding in the park around the Bandstand for about two hours now. I was hiding in a bush with camouflage stripes under my eyes and she was hiding in a tree across the path. We were waiting for Cato to walk past, because Lydia was certain that no guy ignores his girlfriend for weeks and is out at ten in morning unless they're cheating.

"We don't even know that Cato's going to walk this-"

"Target in sight Target in sight! He's walking down the path!" Lydia cut me off, her voice crackling through my walkie-talkie. I ducked a little lower, not wanting him to see me.

"He's meeting someone." I whispered.

"I told you he was cheating! I'm gonna kick his ass!"

"No, you idiot. It's a man."

"Can you see who it is?"

"It's…Boggs." I whispered, watching Cato walk up the stairs to the Bandstand. They talk for a few minutes, Cato making hand gestures and Boggs nodding. Then Cato turned around a lifted up his shirt.

"What's he doing?" Lydia asked as Boggs pulled a knife out from his jacket.

"Oh my God…" I jumped out from where I was hiding. I sprinted towards them as Boggs slashed the knife down Cato's back, starting where his other scar ended.

"HEY! HEY!" I yelled, jumping up the stairs.

"What are you doing here, little girl? You have no business with La Valiente official gang members."

"Fuck off, Boggs." I said, and punched him in the nose. I heard a satisfying _crack _and knew that I'd broken his nose. I turned to Cato, and Boggs' arms wrapped around my stomach. He lifted me off of the floor and went to throw me over the railings onto the grass below.

"CLOVE!" I heard Lydia screaming from her tree. She started to climb down.

"LYDS! STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" I screamed back.

"Let her go, Boggs. She doesn't mean any harm." Cato croaked. He was kneeling on the ground, his shirt sticking to his back. It was wet with blood.

"She broke my nose, Cato." Boggs scowled.

"She's just a stupid girl. She's messing around, let her go." Cato insisted. Still scowling, Boggs released me.

"I'm getting out of here. This 'stupid girl' that you seem to care so much about can deal with that bleeder on your back." He slipped his knife into his inside jacket pocket and jumped over the bandstand railing. He landed on his feet and ran out of the park. I watched him until I couldn't see him anymore, feelings of hate surging through me. When he was gone, I crouched next to Cato.

"Clove…" He whispered. I peeled his shirt off of his cut and examined his back. It was slightly deeper than last time and I sighed, thinking about the amount of surgical thread I had gotten through since I moved here. Cato groaned, bringing me back to the situation.

"What have you _done_?"

**By the way, I've planned for about 21 chapters. :)**


	13. Do I Look Like A Gangster?

**Don't forget the poll, it's currently a tie! I don't own The Hunger Games. :(**

**Clove**

Lydia ran over to the bottom of the Bandstand steps.

"What happened?" She asked, frantically jumping up the steps when she saw the pool of blood surrounding Cato.

"He was an idiot, that's what happened. Help me get him to the car." I sighed. I grabbed one of his arms and she grabbed the other. Together, we hauled him up and slowly started to walk him back towards my car.

"Dammit Cato, why did you have to get yourself involved in this again! I thought you'd left them for good!" I snapped at my half-conscious boyfriend.

"I'm…Sorry." He whispered.

"If you don't have an amazing reason for this, I'll want nothing to do with you." I said, my voice firm. Cato didn't respond, and Lydia just kind of looked at the ground awkwardly. We finally reached my car and we laid him stomach down on the back seats.

"Oh, for fuck's sake Cato. I just got the seats cleaned!" I yelled, starting the engine. I glanced at Lydia. She was stifling a laugh.

"It's not funny, Lydia!" I protested, but she let her laugh out anyway.

"I'm sorry." She spluttered. "But Cato's had his back sliced open and you're worried about your purple car seats."

"Shut up and help me get him into the kitchen." I frowned. We got out of the car and pulled Cato from the back. We got inside the house and laid him on the table.

"Take your shirt off." Lydia commanded.

"Ooh, Lydia. Want a piece of this, do you? Cato asked, wiggling his eyebrows. It would have been funny if he wasn't half dead on my kitchen table.

"Just do it." I said. Cato struggled with his shirt before it slipped off and he rested his head on the table again.

"_I'm _stitching you up this time. Clove's stitches look like mini worms they're so wonky." Lydia said, retrieving the thread, needle and bandages. I sat on a chair and gripped Cato's hand in my own.

"What to tell me what all that was about?" I whispered when Lydia had started stitching.

"Not really. But I guess I have to, right?" He asked. I nodded my head in response and he took a deep breath.

"It started in the airport when we got back from Spain. I saw Boggs and the leader, Chaff, after we had collected our bags. That's why I rushed us out of there. The reason I told you to not to trust anyone, even Lydia, was because I didn't know if the gang had recruited anyone to try and hurt you to get to me."

"Do I look like a gangster to you? Wait…Don't answer that." Lydia snapped. Cato ignored her comment and continued with his story.

"I've been distant with you for the last few weeks because I didn't want the gang to know that I was still with you. I thought they were going to use you to get me to do something I really didn't want to do. And worse, I…I thought they were going to hurt you for stopping me from starting that fire. Or because I care about you so much. I only joined the gang because I figured they wouldn't touch you if I came willingly. I joined for your safety but…But Boggs'll be out for you now, Clove." Cato's voice cracked at the end and he gritted his teeth when Lydia stitched dangerously close to his spine.

"Careful, Lyds." I said softly.

"It's difficult! That mother fucker sliced him like a pig." She exclaimed.

"Lydia Fuhrman, watch your language or so help me I will wash your mouth out with soap." I narrowed my eyes at her.

"You sound like mom." She giggled. I rolled my eyes and turned back to Cato. I ran my thumb along his cheek gently. He closed his eyes and said,

"Is that a good enough reason?"

"You're an idiot." I sighed. "But yeah. Stay here the night, I want to make sure you haven't lost too much blood."

"Okay." He whispered, before lifting my hand up to his mouth and kissing my knuckles. Then, he passed out on the kitchen table.

"How romantic." Lydia scoffed. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Are you nearly done? Because we really need to get him into the lounge and onto the couch." I said, biting my lip. He hadn't passed out last time.

"Yeah, because mom and dad will love walking up, going downstairs to watch the news and finding your shirtless boyfriend asleep on the couch with his back stitched up." Lydia scowled, tying off the last of the thread.

"Fine then, _I'll _sleep on the couch. Just help me." I scowled. We carried Cato between the two of us and dumped him in my bed. I pulled a blanket out from the closet.

"Lydia?"

"Yeah, Clove?"

"Thanks." I smiled at her and ruffled her hair before wondering off to sleep on the couch.

-Line Break-

**Cato**

I woke up in Clove's bed. I crept out of the room, careful not to wake Lydia. I turned down the hallway, and into the living room.

"Clove." I whispered. She jumped awake and I laughed to myself.

"Don't scare me like that." She frowned, sitting up so I could sit down next to her.

"You should have put me on the couch." I said once I'd sat down.

"No, I felt bad because you had a booboo." She smirked. "That reminds me, how are you? You don't feel faint or anything?"

"I'm fine. Lydia stitched me up good. It hurts a little, but I kind of expected it would."

"You shouldn't have done it. I can take care of myself." She said stubbornly. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and she leaned into me.

"You know I would anything to avoid losing you. Even joining a gang." I said into her hair.

"You still shouldn't have done it. How would _you _feel if I joined a gang?" She asked.

"I know you wouldn't."

"But if I did."

"You wouldn't. Right?" I asked.

"Right." She sighed. "What are we going to do, Cato? This whole thing is a disaster."

"I don't know, Clove. I just don't know."

**I think next chapter might come as a bit of a shock to you all… ;) And don't forget the poll that will decide the fate of Marvel's love life! The rest of the fic is going to be more serious, so I want the light-heartedness of Marvel's relationships and the others teasing him and stuff. :) I'm so sneaky, I just typed all this out so the chapter would go over 1100 words. :)**


	14. Forever And Always

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( Thank you so much for the hundred + reviews, it means a lot. :) AND THE POLL IS NOW DOWN! :)**

**Clove:**

"Clove! Clove! Clove! Clove!" Annie yelled, running down the school hallway to catch up with me. Katniss was running next to her, and they both looked excited. Marvel trailed after them, blushing slightly.

"What's up?" I asked, stopping next to my locker to put my text books away. It was finally the end of the day and after what happened to Cato last week, I just wanted to go home and sleep all the time.

"It's Marvel-" Katniss started, but Annie cut her off.

"HE ASKED JACKIE TO BE HIS GIRLFRIEND!" She squealed. I laughed at Annie's excited-ness.

"So you're not just playing her about now, Quaid?" I smirked.

"I guess not. I ended things with all the other girls, too. I want to do this right." He said, smiling as he watched Jackie walking down the hall, waving at her. She waved back and mouthed 'I'll call you later' before continuing her conversation with Johanna and Thresh.

"So what changed your mind about her?" Katniss asked curiously.

"I found out that she likes Harry Potter. That sealed the deal." Marvel grinned. I rolled my eyes at him and slammed my locker shut.

"Clove!" Somebody called my name from down the hallway. I turned just in time to see Don jogging towards me.

"Guys, can you…?"

"Sure, Clove. See you tomorrow." Annie said, grabbing Katniss and Marvel's arms. She dragged them down the hallway in the opposite direction. Marvel was mumbling something about the exit being the other way, but I ignored him.

"Why are you here? I told you to leave me the hell alone." I snapped at Don. He blinked for a few seconds and stared at me.

"I don't want to leave you alone again. I love you." He said bluntly.

"Would you take a knife to the back for me? Willingly, if I wasn't even under attack?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Well, if you were under attack I might…" He said.

"Fuck off. You can't follow me to Spain then come to my house and my school trying to get me back! I'm in love with somebody else and the sooner you realise that the better." I scowled.

"You? Again? Really?" Don and I turned at the sound of Cato's voice. I honestly don't know how he managed to get within three feet of us without me seeing him or hearing his footsteps. The corridor was empty, everyone else had gone home.

"I'm here because I love Clove and I'm not leaving until she takes me back." Don said, glaring at Cato. I rolled my eyes at him.

"I'm not an idiot, Don. In the first month of our relationship you cheated on me three times. I just didn't tell you that I knew because I didn't want to lose you." I sighed.

"But I never cheated on you after that!" He protested.

"Wait a second…First you cheat on her. Then you break up with her because you're scared of a three hour drive. Then you take that drive and tell Clove, _my _Clove, that you're not leaving until you get her back? You deserve this." Cato said. Then, in one swift motion, he punched Don in the face. He stumbled backwards into the lockers, blood gushing from his nose. Don shook his head slightly before swinging at Cato. If he had been uninjured, Cato could have dodged the blow easily. But, he wasn't. His back was still sore. I would know. I've rubbed salve on it every night for the past three days. He grits his teeth and hisses whenever it makes contact with the cut, which is proof of how painful it still is seeing as the salve I used is painless unless in severe cases. Don's fist connected with Cato's eye. I winced, knowing that there would be a bruise there in the morning. Cato punched Don in the mouth and kicked him in the stomach, sending him to the floor. He dived on top of him and repeatedly punched him in the stomach. I heard cracks more than once that must have been his ribs.

"Okay, Cato. He's had enough." I said softly. Cato glanced up at me and stopped punching. However, he still had Don pinned to the ground.

"No. He needs to be taught that if he messes with you there are consequences." Cato growled, raising his fist to punch Don again. I caught his hand before he could bring it down again.

"Come on, baby. He won't be bothering me again. He won't press charges, I promise. Just get up and walked away." I whispered. I haven't seen Cato attack anyone like that since…Johnny. I tugged on his arm gently.

"I…Fine." There was a look in Cato's eyes that scared me slightly. He wanted to finish him off, to break his bones and knock him unconscious. Had I had the same look in my eyes the day I fought Becca?

"You haven't flipped out like that since Johnny." I said as we exited the school building. Sure, I'd seen Cato in plenty of fights. Play fights with Marvel. Proper fights with guys that I still probably couldn't even name. But he had never roughed them up as badly as he did Don. I glanced at him through the corner of my eye. He was looking at his shoes and his blood-stained knuckles were shoved in his pockets. His right eye was already darkening over.

"Want to know why?" He asked quietly. I nodded my head and he took a deep breath.

"It's because I go crazy at the thought of losing you. Or the thought that another guy could be better for you than me. Or that I'm not good enough and another willing guy is. Because I can't lose you, Clove. I just _can't_. It would tear me apart on the inside." We stopped walking. We had only made it to just outside the school gates. I could've sworn I saw Don's broken figure, limping off to the back exit.

"Oh." I responded. Great vocabulary word, right?

"It scares me, Clove. I…I wanted to kill him. I knew I wouldn't. I couldn't. But I _wanted _to because he came here to tell you that he loved you and tried to rip you away from me. I'm worried that one day some random guy will make a move on you, I'll smash him to the ground and then you won't want me around anymore. You'll think I'm a monster." Cato said, his words shaky and his voice so full of sadness that it almost snapped my heart in two.

"Hey." I said, taking my hand in his. "I'll never think that. No matter what you do, you'll always be the big softy that gave my little sister a piggy back ride and carried me home from the park when I was tired. Cato, you're the kind of guy that'd give a girl his jacket in a snowstorm and freeze to death happy just because she's warm. You're the kind of guy that would carry his girlfriend over puddles without thinking twice about it. You're the kind of guy that would catch a falling star in your bare hands…Just because I wanted one. And whatever you felt when you were fighting Don…You can beat that, okay? Just remember that- that I love you. And I always will."

"I love you too, Clove. Forever and always." He said, before picking me up and carrying me over a puddle that last night's rain had produced.

**Aww, a cute little Clato moment in the end there. :) And Marvel's girlfriend being Foxface was the option that one the poll, by a mini landslide. I hope you enjoyed it. :)**


	15. A Deal

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( Oh and in case you were wondering, El Valiente means 'the brave' and El Sin Miedo means 'The Fearless'. They both sound better in different languages :)**

**Clove:**

This whole gang thing had been driving crazy. Every time I tried to speak to Cato and sort things out, he would respond with 'I did it so you'd be safe' or 'This way they won't hurt you.' I had to admit, I was flattered that he cared this much and was so worried about me, but I'm not Glimmer. I can handle myself. And just because he joined El Valiente for a reason that wasn't so bad, doesn't mean I haven't been worried about him. I rooted around in my parents' closet for my dad's old bulletproof vest. I finally found it and slipped it on over my white tank top. I pulled the black hoodie I had stolen from Cato on over the vest. I was now wearing all black, unless you counted the red Adidas symbol on my shoes. The only way to get Cato to understand how I feel about this whole is to get him to experience it first-hand.

-Line Break-

I parked my car on the curb next to an old warehouse. I'd done my research. This was where El Sin Miedo, El Valiente's rival gang, held their meetings once a month. If I was lucky, they'd be there. I climbed out of the car and pushed the creaky warehouse door open slightly. I could hear the sound of voices, and then they just…Stopped.

"Who's there?" A sharp voice called out. Half of the people in the room drew their guns and turned to take aim at me. I pushed the door open even further and stepped inside with my hands raised in surrender.

"My name's Clove." I said weakly. Guns. I hated guns.

"What, exactly, are you doing here? This is a _private_ meeting." A woman who must have been the leader said.

"I…I'm interested in joining. I have experience with weapons; I won last year's TTE." I replied.

"Seed, I recognize her. That's Clove Fuhrman." One of this so called Seed's lackeys said.

"Hmm. I'm Seeder. Prove to us that you've still got those knife talents of yours and I'm sure I can find a place for you." She said, smiling wickedly.

"Easy." I said, pulling the knife I always kept strapped to my stomach out of its sheath. I glanced around the warehouse. There were a few lights, suspended by ropes. I aimed and flicked my wrist with more power than I usually would have. The knife sailed through the air before cutting through three of the ropes. The lights fell to the ground and shattered, glass scattering around the floor. Some of the members shielded their eyes, others laughed.

"Right, I guess you're in then. As I said, I'm Seeder. That's Castor, Pollux, Cressida, Aurelius, Homes, Jackson, Leevy, the Leeg twins and Messalla. You'll get to know the others, but these ten are my main associates." Seeder said, retrieving my knife and tossing it to me. I caught it by the handle.

"Okay. I need to get going now. I'll be in touch, I suppose." I said, edging towards the door.

"Wait!" Seeder pulled her own knife from her boot and walked over to me. She lifted my hoodie up slightly and frowned at the bullet proof vest.

"That was in case you shot first and asked questions later." I explained. She rolled her eyes and pushed it and my tank top up so that the top of my hip was bare. She carved a symbol into my skin. It looked like some kind of bird's talon.

"Eagles are fearless. Like us." She said, before covering it with bandage she had pulled out of her pocket.

-Line Break-

"You did _WHAT?!_" Cato yelled when I told him about El Sin Miedo. He jumped up from the couch and started pacing around his living room.

"I joined a gang." I replied calmly.

"Is this some kind of joke to you, Clove?! Something you can go home and laugh about?! Because it's not! This is serious stuff! We're dealing with murders, rapists and thieves all rolled into one group here. Gangs are _dangerous. _You could _die_. I can't lose you to a gang, of all things." He yelled, still pacing. It was a good thing his parents, Chris and Drew were out because he was so loud the television was almost rattling.

"Exactly!" I yelled back, jumping up and walking over to him. "Now you know _exactly _how I felt when you joined El Valiente the first time _and _the second time! Because everything you've said, everything you're feeling…I've been going through that since the _first _time I had you bleeding on my kitchen table. I've been worried that they'd come for you all this time and then you _willingly _joined them again and made out like it was no big deal!"

"Clove, I-"

"Well, it _is _a big deal Cato! I don't care why you joined. I just want to know that you're not going to wind up dead because of me!" I cut him off from saying whatever stupid defence he had wanted to say.

"Don't you _ever _say that. This isn't your fault. None of it is." Cato said, stopping the pacing and gripping my shoulders.

"Well it feels like it is. Me breaking up with you was when all this trouble started." I sighed, running a hand through my ponytail.

"That was _my _fault. I cheated on you, I was a dick. I regret it every time I'm with you and I'll never be able to take it back no matter how much I want to. But don't you dare say this is your fault because it isn't." Cato said firmly, his hands slipping from my arms to my waist. He pulled me closer to him and rested my head against his chest, wrapping my own arms around his neck.

"Let's make a deal. I'll get out of my gang if you get out of yours." I suggested.

"Clove, it isn't that simple-"

"A _deal_ Cato. You can always go to the police if it comes to that." I cut him off. He sighed in response.

"Okay, Clove. Okay. For you."


	16. I Want Out

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :(**

**Clove:**

"I can get the bus back. I'll see you later." I said, hoping out of Cato's car outside the warehouse.

"See you, Clovey." He called back as he drove away. I smiled to myself as I pushed the door open. He hadn't called me that in far too long.

"Hello?" I called, my voice echoing.

"Clove? What are you doing here?" Seeder stepped out from behind a pile of bricks. Both Leeg twins were with her.

"I've changed my mind. I don't want to be in this gang anymore." I mentally cursed myself for sounding like an indecisive toddler.

"And why would that be?" Seeder asked calmly.

"It's not fair on my family and my…Friends." I answered. I guessed that Seeder wouldn't like the fact that I was leaving for my boyfriend.

"I understand. But in order to leave you must do one thing for me." She replied.

"What?"

"Chaff, my ex-husband and leader of the rival gang will be passing this warehouse in about…Thirty seconds? If you want to leave, you have to beat him shitless."

-Line Break-

"Excuse me sir, I think I'm lost." I said, trying my hardest to sound young and innocent. Chaff glared at me for a moment before answering.

"Not my problem."

"Oh but sir, I have a lot of money on me and I have to take it to my grandmother!" I said, patting my empty pocket. I silently willed him to take the bait. Chaff grinned and lunged at me. I easily sidestepped and swung my fist into his nose. There was a satisfying _crack_. He charged at me again and kicked me in the stomach. I fell to my knees. He went to punch me, but I grabbed his fist and twisted his arm. He screamed and fell to his knees in front of me. I let go and shot up. I kicked him the throat and he fell on his back. Seeder stuck her hand out of the warehouse door and handed me a stick. Frowning, I clubbed him over the head with it. He slumped over, unconscious.

"HEY!" At the sound of a voice, Seeder and the Leegs disappeared inside the warehouse.

"Let me in!" I yelled, pounding on the door. I heard the click off a lock and squeezed my eyes shut. Great. Fucking great. A rough hand grabbed me by my ponytail and yanked me around to face him. Tears of pain and anger sprung to my eyes, but I blinked them away.

"Yes?" I asked, sweetly.

"You did this." The man pointed to Chaff, who was lying on the floor. Blood was flowing from his nose.

"No, he was like this when I got here." I said, smiling. The man gripped my shoulders and shook me so hard I thought my eyes would roll to the back of my head.

"Do you think I was born yesterday?"

"No, I-"

"This man is my leader. Little girl, you must be stupid if you seriously think thought that you could get away with fighting the leader of the largest gang in West Virginia." The man snarled.

"There are only two gangs in West Virginia…" I trailed off as he shook me again.

"I ought to put a bullet in your forehead right here and now. But I won't. Want to know why?" He didn't give me time to answer him.

"Because I recognize you. And I get the feeling that you're worth more to me alive than dead. You're our new recruit's little toy aren't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said, resisting the urge to slap him for calling me a 'Little Toy. Cato isn't Marvel.

"Yes you do. You're the bitch that stopped Cato Ludwig from burning down that school months ago. You're the girl that attacked Boggs in a public park." He growled.

"Well, Boggs is a dick." I said. I didn't regret saying it, even when he shook me even harder than before.

"I am not milk! Stop fucking shaking me!" I yelled.

"Watch your tongue, girly. I could kill you in a heartbeat." He smirked.

"And I you." I said, narrowing my eyes. The man started chuckling, so I wriggled out of his grasp and punched him in the eye. He let out a scream of rage and grabbed me again. This time, I knew there was no escaping.

"Somebody will come for Chaff. Right now, I'm taking you to Boggs."

**Meanwhile, Cato's POV:**

After dropping Clove off outside an old warehouse, I drove to the meeting base of my own gang. It took me about an hour, but I finally got there. Their meeting place was an old windmill that hadn't been used in decades, and to be honest it freaked me out. It wasn't exactly my favourite place to spend my Sunday.

"What are you doing here? I don't recall inviting you." Boggs asked when I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"I don't recall you being the leader. I thought only _leaders _called meetings." I smirked back. He narrowed his eyes at me and stepped forward, pushing aside a girl only a little older than me.

"Chaff is on his way. Now what are you doing here?" He asked, more firmly this time.

"I want out." I said. This time, Boggs' eyes widened.

"Everyone outside. We'll continue this meeting in a moment." Boggs yelled. Grumbling, the other members reluctantly left the windmill. When they had all left he turned to me and again.

"You want out?"

"So your ears _do _work."

"You only joined a few weeks ago!" Boggs shouted.

"I never wanted _in _in the first place. So let me leave and I promise not to go to the police." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Seeing as I was the one that recruited you, you'll have to do something for me in order to be allowed to leave." Boggs said, stroking his chin.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked. I was just about ready to do anything; I'd had enough of this stupid gang.

"Kill Clove."

**That is the mother of all cliffhangers.**


	17. Are You Insane?

**Ah, I'm so lazy; it's been like a week. :( Sorry… But I have written the first chapter for a first chapter fic called Careers Assemble. I uploaded it already. :) Also, I've been brainstorming and have come up with another idea for a Clato fic. So, when I finish this and my other Clato, I'll have another two to write because I have my idea and one that I am slowly prewriting. :) Wow, I'm a rambler. I don't own The Hunger Games.**

"Are you fucking crazy?" I hissed. "I'm not going to _kill _the only girl I've ever loved!" The doors to the windmill were thrown open before Boggs had a chance to reply.

"We found this one down by El Sin Miedo's warehouse. I restrained her and called for back-up. She seems to have beaten the crap out of Chaff." A man, one of Chaff's lackeys, burst into the warehouse. He was hauling a girl behind him. Blood trickled down her face, starting at her hairline. My heart dropped into my shoes when I realised that it was Clove. Boggs grinned like a maniac, realising who it was just a fraction after I did.

"How…convenient." He sneered.

"The usual?" The man asked.

"No, no. Not this time. I think…Cato can take care of her." Boggs pulled a knife from his sleeve and handed it to me.

"Kill her and I'll let you leave the gang." He said. When I didn't take the knife, he pressed it firmly in my palm and wrapped my fingers around the hilt.

"What have you done, Clove?" I whispered.

"Seeder…She said if I beat him up, she'd let me go. Then she abandoned me in the street as soon as she heard this chump coming." The man holding Clove clenched her forearm a little harder, causing her to wince.

"You…Beat up a gang leader? A seventeen year old girl beat up a murder/rapist/drug dealer?" I asked, too shocked to process the situation properly.

"I had too."

"I think you're the bravest person I've ever met." I said. And it was true. She was far braver than me.

"Do it, Cato. Get out while you still can." Clove croaked. Not only was blood dripping from her forehead, I was spewing from her bottom lip.

"I...I…No! I can't kill you!" I protested.

"Just do it, I've had a good life. Make it quick, though." Clove squeezed her eyes shut, clearly expecting me to slit her throat or something.

"Do you really think I'm heartless enough to kill my own girlfriend?" I asked. You could hear the disgust in my voice.

"No! I think you're _smart _enough to kill your girlfriend. If you don't get out of this stupid gang right now, they're going to give you hell for the rest of your life, until one day they just kill you. If you kill me, it's quick and painless and just one death. If you don't, then someone else will, then they'll kill you and that'll be two deaths." She said urgently. She _wanted _me to kill her. She wanted to die in this dark, cold windmill, held in place by a man that was more muscle than brain.

"Do all the times I said 'I love you' mean nothing to you? Does your brother's death mean nothing? He died helping you, and I'd rather do the same than kill you on the spot." I said.

"As heart-warming as this is…Kill the girl, Cato." Boggs sighed impatiently. I turned to face him, narrowing my eyes.

"No." I said, before lunging at him. I tackled him to the ground and punched him in the teeth. He may have looked like a washed-up druggy, but damn was he fast. Before I could land my second blow, he brought his arm up. My fist bounced harmlessly off of his wrist. Then he brought his knee up, sending me sprawling to the ground next to him He dived on top of me and elbowed me in the stomach before punching me in the mouth. I heard Clove scream. _Clove…Come on Cato. _I told myself._ Do it for her. If you lose, she dies._

"Not so strong now, are you pretty boy?" Boggs laughed. I spat in his eye as a distraction. He wailed and I rolled over so that I had the upper hand. I hit him in the nose, the stomach, and the teeth again. The bastard refused to fall unconscious. Eventually, he flipped me off of him and went for my throat.

"Boggs! Stop! Boggs!" The man restraining Clove yelled as Boggs choked me.

"What?!" He snarled, not looking up.

"Umm, a little help?" The man asked. Boggs glanced over his shoulder at whatever was there.

"Holy shit." He muttered under his breath, removing his hands from my throat. I was too busy taking huge gulps of air to try and take him out.

"Get off the boy or I'll put a bullet through your little lackey's brain." Said a familiar voice. Mumbling a string of curses, Boggs pulled himself onto my feet. That was when I saw her.

"Lydia?!" I spluttered, also pulling myself to my feet. She had a gun pressed to the lackey's head. Clove was stood next to her with her jumper pressed to her lip, soaking up the blood.

"You didn't seriously think I would know your plan? Wouldn't follow you? I'm smarter than I act, that's why I followed you here. Guess I was just in time." She grinned.

"I suppose, but-" I stopped mid-sentence at the sound of a gunshot. It was followed by two more. Boggs had fired the first shot and had been shot in the chest by Lydia. His lackey had gone for his gun and been shot in the head. Clove lay on the ground, clutching the area just below her heart.]

"Oh God." I said, running over to her.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She said as I pulled her up. She pulled her jumper off, leaving her in a t-shirt and bullet proof vest.

"Bloody hell, Clove!" Lydia sighed as I crushed her sister in a hug.

"Ouch, ouch! I think I broke a few ribs though."

"Sorry." I muttered, letting go.

"Oh my God…I killed two men. The gun's not licensed to anyone in the family, but…I could be arrested." Lydia muttered, blinking rapidly.

"No. You won't be. Here's what we'll do. I have a lighter in my back pocket. I was gonna torch this place after I left the gang. I still will, only now we're burning bodies too. Nobody will come looking for them or report them missing, neither of them have any family. I'll bury the gun in my garden. If the police find out, which they won't, I'll say it was me. The men were trying to rape you when I burst in so I shot them both." I said, piling the lighter from my back pocket.

"I won't let you take the fall for this." Clove said, as stubborn as ever.

"The police aren't going to find out, Clove! The bodies will burn along with the windmill. We're miles away from the nearest village, so the windmill will be long gone before anyone sees the fire coming down the hill. The police will just think a couple kids have been messing around. They won't know it was us, trust me." I said.

"I do…I do trust you." She sighed.

"Good." I said, pulling her and Lydia in for a slightly gentler hug. "Because we're going to be just fine."


	18. If It's What You Want

**Next chapter's the epilogue :O If I do a sequel, it'll be about Lydia. :) But I'm not sure if I will yet because I have so many other ideas that I can't wait to write, as well as two and a half pre-written chapters for something else. But I guess we'll see.:) I don't own The Hunger Games. :(**

**Later Than Year:**

"I can't believe we finally graduated!" I yelled, dancing next to Katniss.

"I can't believe Marvel finally got a girlfriend!" Katniss laughed, pointing in the direction of Marvel and Jackie. A fast song was playing, but they were doing a slow dance.

"How long have they been together now? Seven months? Eight?" I asked, smiling brightly. Jackie was a really nice girl, and I was glad that Marvel had finally ditched his old ways.

"Forget that. How long have you been with Cato?" Katniss asked.

"About a year and a half." I smiled, stepping forwards slightly to avoid a very drunk Gloss, who was stumbling off behind me.

"That's almost as long as me and Peeta." Katniss grinned.

"I know!" I shouted to be heard above the music. "Finn and Annie are still together, Madge and Gale have been dating for about a month and now even Johanna has a boyfriend!"

"Don't forget Prim and Rory!" Katniss laughed again.

"I couldn't. They're round my house with Lydia at least once a week!" I told her.

"Did Lyds and Vick ever get back together?"

"Last heard, he tried to make her jealous so she bitch slapped him. So I'm guessing _no_." I said, turning my body to avoid another drunk, this time a girl a year younger than me. Peeta walked over and kissed Katniss lightly on the cheek.

"Lydia slapped one of my best friend's little brother?" Katniss asked, her mouth open wide.

"Yeah. Look, I should go find Cato. I'll catch you later, Katniss. Bye Peeta." I smiled again and started to weave through the crowds of drunken dancers. We had graduated from Mockingjay High earlier today. Well, it was technically yesterday. Finnick had invited hordes of people to his house for an after party and I'd been dancing with Katniss for a solid three hours. Last time I saw Cato, he had been talking to Marvel at the minibar but he obviously wasn't doing that anymore. I passed Glimmer making out with Brutus, even though I'd already seen her earlier making out with Thresh. I walked by Finnick and Annie whispering in each other's ears. I looked all over the house, and finally found Cato sitting on the decking in the yard.

"Hey." I said softly. Cato lifted his head from his hands and smiled weakly.

"Hey." He responded. I went and sat down next to him. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Are you okay? You've been acting a little weird this week." I asked gently, careful not to push him for answers. If he didn't want to tell me now, he'd tell me later.

"I'm fine." He responded.

"Okay." I said. I lifted my gaze to the stars. "You know what I think of when I look at the stars?"

"No. I don't." Cato replied.

"I think of Joey's eyes when he was holding a baseball bat. He loved that sport _so _much. Whenever he played, his grey eyes would just…Shine. And they honestly looked like the stars." I said, smiling slightly at the many memories of my older brother.

"He must have been great." Cato said quietly.

"He was. I had a conversation with him about death once. I was about ten, he was twelve. He was going to England with the school and I was paranoid that his plane would go down. He said, 'Clove, don't be silly. I'm not that fat.' And then he told me that if it did happen, he'd look down at me from the sky. My brother wasn't the sun. He was the stars. Always twinkling, always _there_." I told him.

"My grandmother passed away on Monday." Cato whispered, closing his eyes.

"Oh my gosh Cato, I'm so sorry." I said, pressing my face into his shoulder. He squeezed me tighter and buried his face in my hair.

"When…When I was younger she used to look after me. My parents had different jobs back then, so I'd go back to her house after school and my parents would pick me up from her's at eight. That's four hours a day, five days a week I spent with her. For six years. I hadn't seen her since I was fourteen and…I've inherited some money. We all have, my family and me. Its money we didn't even know she had." He said into my hair.

"H-how much?" I asked.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand. Turns out she won the lottery last year and didn't tell us." He mumbled. I wrapped my arms around his waist. We held each other like that for what seemed like ages, but was probably only a few minutes.

"If you don't mind me asking…What are you planning to do with it?" I asked after a moment's hesitation. I didn't want to upset him even more.

"Well…We're both going to WVU, right?"

"West Virginia University, yeah."

"Well…I was thinking I could buy a house closer to it. And…You could come and live with me." Cato said, suddenly finding the decked floor very interesting.

"I-"

"But only if it's what you want." He added quickly.

"I'd love that, Cato. I honestly would. But I don't want you paying for all of it." I said firmly.

"Okay. We'll take turns with the rent, then. We can get whatever you want. A house, an apartment, a caravan…Whatever." Cato lifted his face from my hair and grinned at me.

"I think an apartment sounds nice." I smiled back at him. He placed his finger under my chin and kissed me slowly.

"You know what? I think it does too."

**This chapter was kind of short, and I can't see the next one being much longer. :O**


	19. Epilogue

**If I do a sequel, it'll take me a while to plan it, so…I don't know yet. There are a lot of other things I want to write, and if I leave this too long you'll probably forget what happened in the first two. Anyway, this is the last chapter :O I don't own The Hunger Games, or Still Young by Neon Trees.**

A year. Clove and I had been attending West Virginia University for a year now. We'd been living in a two bedroom apartment that was fairly spacious and only a twenty minute walk from WVU. I was taking two courses- Sports Management and Athletic Coaching. I wanted to either manage a basketball team or teach sports to little kids. Clove was also taking two courses, Athletic Training and Physical Therapy. She wanted to be either a professional athlete or a sports physiotherapist. Things were going really well. Katniss, Annie, Finnick and Marvel also went to WVU, but we didn't get to see much of them. We were all so busy, especially me and Clove. We had bought new furniture for the apartment and it'd taken us months to re-paint it. We had settled down properly after about two months, and it had been great ever since.

"Hello? Cato? Is anyone in there?" Clove waved her hand in front of my face. I blinked and shook my head slightly.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry." I pulled my key out of my pocket and inserted it into the lock. "Follow me." I grabbed Clove's hand and pulled her inside. I walked through our bedroom and opened the French doors to the balcony we'd had built not long ago.

"Wow." She muttered when she saw the picnic I'd laid out on a blue and white checked rug. There was all of Clove's favourite foods, as well as a bouquet of her favourite flowers. I sat down on her rug and picked up my guitar. I'd snuck back an hour ago and set all of it up for her. It was hot, but not so hot that anything had melted or gone weird and inedible.

"Like it?" I asked.

"Love it." She smiled and sat down next to me. "Hey, I didn't know you had a guitar."

"I stored it in the attic. I took lessons for three years." I explained.

"When did you stop?"

"When I was fifteen. Can I play you something?"

"Of course." Clove smiled again and I started to play.

_Love is a game that we could play_

_Even only for today_

_I don't wanna lose you_

_We've been apart for far too long_

_Now we only have a song_

_Let the music move you_

_There was a part of me_

_That never left a part of you_

_I wish I could be everything you wanted_

_But I'm still young_

_Wide-eyed and hopeless_

_Yeah I'm still young_

_I want your devotion to this_

_Can we kiss like we do in my head_

_Can we dance like we do on my bed_

_Like we're still young_

_Love is a loss that we incur_

_When we gamble with the world_

_I don't wanna lose you_

_I feel my life has just begun_

_I can hear you sing along_

_Now the music in you_

_There was a part of me_

_That never left a part of you_

_I wish I could be everything you wanted_

_But I'm still young_

_Wide-eyed and hopeless_

_Yeah I'm still young_

_I want your devotion to this_

_Can we kiss like we do in my head_

_Can we dance like we do on my bed_

_Like were still young_

_Baby don't you cry_

_I won't tell you lies_

_I'll just sit and sing you lullabies_

_Cuz I'm still young_

_Wide-eyed and hopeless_

_Yeah I'm still young_

_I want your devotion to this_

_Can we kiss like we do in my head_

_Can we dance like we do on my bed_

_Like we're still young_

Clove clapped when I was finished singing.

"That's one of my favourite songs." She grinned.

"I know." I took a deep breath and crossed my legs before pulling a small box out of my jeans pocket. I flipped it open and Clove's eyes widened at the sight of the silver ring.

"Clove, we've been together for two and a half years and to be honest, we've been through way more than any other couple I know. When we met, you were a snappy bitch on the outside and incredibly hurt and vulnerable on the inside. I was an ass on the outside and…well, I was an ass on the inside too." I said. Clove laughed slightly and I carried on with the speech I'd been practicing for weeks.

"You changed me. I went from a fucked up man whore who didn't take anything seriously, to a guy who cared. I honestly don't know where I'd be without you. Probably dead. We've been through so many ups and downs, the downs were always by fault. I was such a dick. But I'm not anymore, I have you to care for. I got my act together because I knew that if I couldn't even look out for myself, how could I look out for you? I messed up so many times and you never left me. I love you far that. I will _always _love you for that. I know we're only nineteen, but I don't want to ever live without you by my side. Clove, will you marry me?"

"I…Yes." She whispered, a single tear sliding down her cheek. It was all she would allow herself. I slid the ring onto her finger and she leaned forwards, wrapping her arms around my neck. I slid my arms around her waist and held her tightly. She lifted her head from my shoulder to my ear and whispered,

"I can't wait to start my forever with you."

**So, that's it! Thank you to everyone who reviews, favourited or followed. And a special thank you to everyone who did all three! The biggest thank you ever to anyone that reviewed all of the chapters! I hope you enjoyed this, I honestly had so much fun writing it. After I've finished my fic about the Careers, I'll be posting another AU called I Fell For Your Smile. It will, of course, be Clato. :)**


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